Militant Greenpeace Activists Recklessly Raid Platform, Put Workers At Risk

Greenpeace activists, in yet another reckless stunt to get on TV and in newspapers, stormed an oil drilling platform off the coast of Greenland, reports Der Spiegel here.  According to Der Spiegel, the intrusion forced an unplanned stop in drilling operation.

Whenever a drilling rig is forced to stop operation, it’s expensive. I can’t imagine what these crazed idiots say when storming a platform. “Stop! We’re here to save the planet! Stop drilling in the name of the planet!”

Anyway, Der Spiegel writes:

Four activists of the environmental organisation climbed onto the oil platform in order to protest the test drilling. Scottish company Cairn Energy stopped their work in response, reported the environmental activists.

“Sure lads, whatever you say”.

The Danish police were not amused. They now threaten the planet-rescuers with consequences. Morten Nielsen, Vice Chief of the Greenland Police:

Laws were broken; those responsible will be punished.

Let’s hope. In the meantime, the activists have chained themselves to the platform, and have enough provisions with them to last four days. They say:

 We have to stop our dependency on oil!

I wonder if they themselves paddle their Esperanza ship as they joyride around Greenland. And I’m sure there are hundreds of activists on-board on exercise bikes all pedalling away to produce the electricity the boat needs. Surely Greenpeace broke its dependency on oil a long time ago. Maybe it’s time to do research on the journeys and footprint of the Greenpeace fleet.

Also Greenland Prime Minister Kuupik Kleist had little sympathy for the publicity-seeking activists, reports Der Spiegel, calling their actions an “openly illegal act” and a “gross violation of safety laws”. It is, he says:

really worrying that Greenpeace, with the sole intention of getting publicity in the media, would employ such efforts to break every safety rule in order to protect people and the environment.

Greenpeace intends to exploit the BP Deep Horizon accident to the max, and take advantage of the sour public mood with oil companies. They want to show how dangerous oil drilling is for the environment. Says Tzeporah Berman at Greenpeace headquarters:

The confrontation in the Arctic is only the start.