Oil & Water Don't Mix: People Vs Arctic Oil
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If you are here for the petition to support Greenpeace in court against Arctic oil drilling then you can sign it here: peoplevsarcticoil.org
People VS Arctic Oil:
Oil and Water Don't Mix
At the beginning of November, Greenpeace will be going to court with the Norwegian government, in an effort to stop them allowing oil drilling in the Arctic. This blog post will detail the history of the case, how it began and the Arctic regions vulnerability.
In April 2016, Norway signed on to the Paris Climate Agreement, a move that they clearly now did not take seriously at all and are not committed to as the next month (May of 2016) the Norwegian government handed out new oil licenses in the Arctic. In August 2016, drilling was announced and it was apparent that Norwegian state-owned oil company 'Statoil' started a massive drilling campaign. October of that same year (2016) was when Greenpeace along with Nature and Youth handed in their lawsuit against the Norwegian government for making this decision. We now skip forward to July 2017 where a Greenpeace ship showed up in the Barents Sea for drilling season, monitoring the rigs and peacefully protesting. This brings us to now, October 28, 2017 where we are just 4 days from the start of the court hearing. Since the beginning of this situation a petition has been making the rounds and has garnered 403,513 signatures as of me writing this. Greenpeace started the petition to accompany/back-up their case, using the number of signatures as evidence that more of the world does not approve of Arctic oil drilling, not just Greenpeace themselves. The more people that sign this petition the higher the chance of Greenpeace winning the case.
Greenpeace are also using scientific reasoning for their case. There are so many studies that show the world cannot handle more burning of oil. We all know that climate change is already happening and affecting our planet everyday whether it's coastal community flooding, crop failure from drought or climate refugees, fleeing skyrocketing temperatures or rising seas. So why on earth would we need more oil rigs when renewable energy is readily available and thriving? Especially in the Arctic of all places. Greenpeace also has history and real-life scenarios on their side. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 1.3 million gallons (4.9 million liters) of petroleum are spilled into U.S. waters from vessels and pipelines in a typical year. A major oil spill could easily double that amount. And let's not forget the history of devastating oil spills that have occurred around the globe. The most famous being the Deepwater Horizon (Gulf of Mexico) spill in 2010, that not only polluted 16,000 miles of coastline and killed an unprecedented amount of marine life but also sadly killed 11 of the crew members on board. The situation was described as 'uncontrollable' but you know how it could have been prevented? Not drilling in the fragile ocean. We do not want to replicate this disastrous spill in the Arctic especially since it is so much more sensitive, already vulnerable and under stress from existing climate change.
Drilling for oil to burn in the Arctic region is basically the ultimate oxymoron.
There's also the matter of how much a spill would affect the unique wildlife that inhabit the Arctic, including the iconic polar bear + narwhals, seals, foxes and more diverse species.
Basically everything about it brings up a red flag but you know... money, oil industry profits and the economy or something like that...
If you too share my concern for this decision and want to help in anyway you can, sign that petition I mentioned earlier and add to the 400,000+ signatures. Also feel free to share this blog post or anything to do with the case really. Any retweet, repost or share can gain a signature and a signature can be the difference. Or it can at least raise awareness. Let's keep oil out of the vast Arctic region and expansive waters because as we learn in science class... oil and water don't mix.
- Matthew Groom, Stand For Earth
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