In the past few days, environmental activists in Portland have put themselves front and center against Shell’s Arctic drilling intentions.
As the Royal Dutch Shell Company prepared to set out its icebreaking
ship, the Fennica, onto the Arctic for the Summer Drilling Season, activists
opposed to the drilling moved quickly to prevent it from setting out to open
sea.
By early Tuesday, several began gathering at the St. Johns
Bridge, while others in Kayaks defied the ship’s advances. Democracy Now! even
tells us that the activists “successfully forced Shell’s ship to turn back to
port” early Thursday morning. It was quite impressive to watch.[1]
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| Photo credit: kgw.com |
Eventually, Shell filed a court order against the activists,
forcing their removal from the St. Johns Bridge path. The scenes of what
happened were inspirational. The only way a corporate giant could pass through
was with the help of law enforcement, while the people opposed its efforts and
continued to do so until the end.
After much stalling, Fennica passed through after 40 hours behind schedule. Despite seen as a failure in part by the activists, the defiance and willingness shown by them continues to demonstrate that people will go to great lengths to protect the health and well-being of our planet.
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