Television Icon Lucy Lawless [who we ADORE and SUPPORT here at UPBEAT Entertainment News Syndicate]— star of mega-hit shows like Spartacus and Xena, Warrior Princess [as well as a rather impressive array of film roles]— has boarded a Shell contracted oil drillship to prevent it from leaving Auckland, New Zealand for US waters off Alaska. The 43 year old mother of three joined Greenpeace activists to climb onto the vessel in a dramatic early morning protest. She says that Shell’s exploratory oil drilling program threatens to devastate the fragile Arctic environment and speed up global warming. Speaking from the ship she said: "I am here today acting on behalf of the planet and my children. Deep-sea oil drilling is bad enough, but venturing into the Arctic, one of the most magical places on the planet, is going too far. I don’t want my kids to grow up in a world without these extraordinary places intact or where we ruin the habitat of polar bears for the last drops of oil." Lawless, who once worked for a mining company and then quit once she discovered the destruction and safety risks that it posed, understands all of the dangers/threats that can and DO occur with off-shore drilling of this nature. And YES, she IS more than qualified to speak out on the subject!
What shocks all of us here at UPBEAT is the lack of public education and knowledge on this issue. It has continued to be "covered up" by elected officials and corporate lobbyists under the guise that is "creates jobs". True and untrue. How, you ask? Because the long-term risks and jobs that are created are to salvage and merely "attempt" to save what is left of the Artic.. this "short term" fix or Band-aid for fossil fuel, merely serves to feed the careless greed of companies that are NOT held to any specific testing standards or rules whatsoever. This is not about helping us... it's about feeding the never-ending gluttony of the oil company "suits". Learn. Research. Read. Knowledge is POWER. This is not only about this generation it is about generations to come!
INFORMATION RESOURCES:
The Noble Discoverer, scheduled to drill three exploratory oil wells this summer in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska, was blocked from leaving the port of Taranaki for its 6,000 nautical mile journey by Greenpeace New Zealand activists who boarded the vessel and occupied the drilling derrick, equipped with enough supplies to last for several days. "We've taken action today to stop Shell from drilling in the Arctic, where this reckless company wants to exploit the melting ice to make billions more in profit," said Greenpeace US Deputy Campaign Director Dan Howells. "Shell must keep the Noble Discoverer in port, or risk a catastrophe in Alaska worse than the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico."
Shell is the first major international oil company to make exploitation of the Arctic a major focus. If the Noble Discoverer strikes oil this summer, other global oil giants will quickly follow and spark an Arctic oil rush. Earlier this week, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement approved Shell’s Oil Spill Response Plan for the Chukchi Sea. It included devices for cleaning up a spill— including capping and containment systems and ice deflection barriers— that Shell openly admits have NEVER been properly tested except in contained laboratories or essentially on paper. Shell has a very tight window in which to drill for oil. Frigid temperatures, extreme weather conditions and a highly remote location pose unprecedented challenges, and make an Arctic oil spill virtually impossible to contain and clean up. According to a senior official at a Canadian firm that specializes in oil-spill response, "There is really no solution or method today that we are aware of that can actually recover [spilled] oil from the Arctic."
Total estimated Arctic oil reserves would satisfy just three short years of current global oil demand, but would both contribute significantly to carbon emissions and pose a grave risk to the local eco-system. Numerous scientific studies show that through energy efficiency and clean energy, global energy needs can be met while leaving the Arctic untouched and safe from a virtually uncontainable oil spill disaster that would cost BILLIONS more to "attempt" to contain than it would save in terms of helping with meeting oil consumption deadlines. "Companies like Shell are taking advantage of the Arctic sea ice melt to drill for the fossil fuels that continue to drive our climate crisis," said Howells. "We need to cut our dependency on fossil fuels, and use the trillions set to be invested in dirty oil to ramp up the vehicle efficiency and the rollout out new clean technologies. That way we can protect the Arctic, fight climate change and spark a bonanza in green jobs." Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organization that acts to change attitudes and behavior, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.
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