BAFFIN BAY, Greenland, Sept. 1, 2010 - Four Greenpeace climbers have spent the night in sub-zero temperatures suspended in tents hanging from ropes under an oil rig in the Arctic, 120 miles (193 kilometres) off the coast of Greenland. This morning they renewed their call on the rigs operators Cairn Energy to go beyond oil and stop threatening the pristine arctic environment with its risky drilling operations.
Speaking by a live Skype link-up from his perch under the giant rig, US activist Sim McKenna said: “I feel pretty vulnerable dangling off this huge oil rig, only meters above the frigid Arctic waters. But, it is time to take a stand against deep sea drilling, especially here in the pristine arctic waters. It is time we stood up and demanded that the world go beyond oil. It is insane that rather than view retreating ice in the arctic as an ominous warning that continued burning of fossil fuels is wreaking havoc on or environment it is being taken as an invitation to drill for more climate changing oil.”
“We have to go beyond oil and invest in the clean alternatives. An oil spill in the waters below me would be catastrophic for the people of Greenland. Success for Cairn Energy in striking oil would spell disaster for the arctic, as other oil companies currently watching and waiting would surely join an arctic oil rush, which would further spell disaster for the climate and all of us.”
Until recently McKenna was a volunteer helping the clean-up operation in the Gulf of Mexico following BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.
At dawn yesterday the four activists dodged Danish Navy commandos before climbing up the inside of the rig and forcing it to stop drilling. Today they vowed to keep the rig shut down for as long as possible.
The climbers have enough supplies to occupy the hanging tents for several more days. If they succeed in stopping drilling for just a short time then the operators, Britain’s Cairn Energy, will struggle to meet a tight deadline to complete the exploration before winter ice conditions force it to abandon the search for oil off Greenland until next year.
Last week Cairn announced it had struck gas at a site a few miles from the occupied rig, but not oil. The fragile environment west of Disko Island is known as Iceberg Alley due to the plentiful icebergs and tough conditions. This has deterred oil companies from attempting exploration there in recent years, but the world’s oil giants are watching the Cairn project with great interest. If the Edinburgh-based company strikes oil, analysts expect a new Arctic oil rush, with Exxon, Chevron and other energy giants already buying up licenses to drill in the area and making preparations to move in.
Website: www.greenpeace.org
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