Arctic defenders deported from Greenland

"Every minute they were up there occupying the rig was another minute Cairn Energy couldn’t drill"
Lisa, please stop continuing to mislead your supporters into believing that the GP action was a success...yes, they managed to board the rig; a good climbing feat ignoring the inconvenience of the leg ladders! However, drilling was not stopped for more than a few hours and actually came to an end for operational reasons...casing point! The Forth had TD'd, so wasn't drilling anyway when the boarding was underway.
So, some accuracy and less elastication of the truth would be nice from here on.
Oh, and the operation is not actually deep water drilling...too shallow to qualify for this.

The Subject box did not allow me enough letters. The idiot previously mentioned calls himself kickthehuskie. Nuff said.

Best wishes and blessings to all at Greenpeace.

Good for GP. If it wasn't for your valiant action and your excellent blogs this sort of thing would be happening without us knowing, and yes it is important we know and stick up for what we believe is right.

Honestly, it passed the tedium out here.

Fuel & supplies for a jolly up to Greenland - £ lots

Fuel for helicopter tours of some icebergs - £ lots more

Cost in time and money to Cairn during GP's occupation - zero

The 4 'heroes' sheepishly asking the rig for help down because of the cold - £ priceless!

Lisa, don't give up with the writing. Remember the infinite monkey theorem - one day you might come away with the truth.

"This has been a truly amazing event in protest history, I still remember getting up every day and rushing to the computer to see the latest news (to be honest, I do this pretty much everyday)"

You sad, sad individual.

Now please, you just sit in your pyramid swinging your crystal and keep posting these gut-wrenchingly awful blogs.

You give a far better insight into the nutters in Greenpeace than I ever can.

@ kickthehuskie

The Danish government said it was shut down, Cairn said it was shut down and Upstream said it didn't come back on again until we left.

We're going on the facts given to us by reliable sources. And as far as I am aware - it would be illegal if they were drilling while there were people within the 500 metre zone.

@ CHS

I'm sorry I haven't been able to reply to comments as much as I would have liked. As you are probably aware - the oil rig is north of 70 degrees and it's difficult to get a regular satelite communications service up there. Now that we're going south I will aim to respond to reasonable comments and questions. However, I will not be responding to anything hateful or offensive.

I'm very open to have a dialogue about this campaign now that I am have better internet access. 

Our campaigners have a lot of experience working in campaigns involving the oil industry and this campaign was heavily researched - including extensive investigations into the Stena Don oil rig and Cairn Energy's plans. Experts were questioned, briefings were given... and for those of us who aren't so experienced and knowledgable we've had piles and piles of literature and research available to read on board for the past 3 weeks. I must admit that I haven't read ALL of it but - everything I have said on my blogs is based on information from reliable sources and things I have experienced first hand.

I don't claim to be an oil industry expert and I certainly don't try to 'elasticate the truth' as you say.

Besides - it doesn't take an oil industry expert to draw a dotted line between the BP oil spill, global warming, the current state of the Arctic and Cairn's cowboy operations off the coast of Greenland - and realise what they are doing is dangerous.

Greenpeace doesn't exist to educate the public. We've done our homework and we're here to take action. That doesn't mean we're not open to a dialouge but it does mean that we're not going to change our minds on Arctic drilling... unless you can convince us that oil is safe, a spill wont threaten one of the most pristine environments on Earth and an Arctic oil rush wont totally screw up our chances of fighting climate change. 

I don't like your chances - but feel free to try. :-)

Lisa

Rather than making me go look for them on my crappy internet connection - it would be good if you could ask them all in one go and under the same username.

Thanks.

The Greenpeace people who are at the helm today is of a different generation and there are not many from the sealskin campaign in the 70, s. I therefore believe that those who learned more about natural morality and ethics are the new Greenpeace people.
The new generation is accustomed to win in dramatic actions with great support from many sympathizers around the world.
In Greenland, they encounter a lot of criticism and second mood against the organization.
I hope that they in the road back will reflect on what has happened and that will they achieve better results in Greenland in the future so it does not seem to just "throw cobblestones" as in denmark. People in Greenland are of different caliber and culture and has a different approach to communication and togetherness. They are usually bottom honest by nature and require meaningful conversations.
Greenpeace and hopefully the world will see and learn how Greenland takes its global repsonsipility seriously, and these brave Inuit have once adapt new the beginning of time changing requirements, and is today in the absulutte front in the fight for the environment and is a great rolemodel for the rest of the world in terms of energy supply of greenenergy in large scala.
Do olso see the treatment of animals i Greeland. Not 1 animal in gage doped with medicine. All live in the almighty of the great nature. Greenland, you have an bravely and visionary people who are at the forefront in the worlds figth against pullution.
And if there is oil that is being said, then Greenland hopefully contribute to world may have time to adapt to new forms of energy, without the big drama shortage of oil will provide.
And I hope that Greenland makes good deals and show the world that there can be good relations between oilindustri and countries with no economisc abuse.

Hello realitycheck,

Here you are again insulting people who write their personal opinion. It is rather becoming a bit sad that you have such a low esteem of the rest of the world. I guess that totally reflects the opinion of the oil industry and supporting governments that make decisions where only a few get to benefit from and a lot mostly otherwise.
If Greenpeace is asked to open up their books to ensure that they did not endanger the operations or the life of the workers on the rig, then why doesn't Cairn's energy do the same. After all, I think the world would be very interested to hear what they have planned to stop any spills from becoming a massive disaster to the region. If their operations are that safe (not just to the workers but also towards the environment they are working in!), I can't see what the problem would be with that?
Further let's not put the question just to you, or the oil companies, or the governments that will benefit from the profits whether or not our world needs more (safely?!) drilled oil.

After all, if oil companies want to drill in what we can see as one of the last pristine environments on the planet and a last remaining natural heritage for mankind, this should be a question to all of us, not just the ones profiting from it. On top of that, it is not just about drilling in the Arctic, it is about the thirst for oil that keeps us depended on it!! No matter what the consequences are to the world and all it's inhabitants, including people.

Currently South Australia is getting very wet feet and the reports for the next 48 hours are not looking very good. Russia has lost so many lives, food, forests and almost achieved another nuclear disaster as the fires threatened nuclear storages. Pakistan, no need to talk about that anymore. Several parts of China were flooded, in Laktah, India, a mud slide due to heavy rains killed and destroyed many livelyhoods. Europe has seen extreme heat and rainfall almost everywhere this Summer. The Pacific is already flooding for a few years as high tides wash away their crops and homes. Food prices will go up extremely this year due to lost and failed crops caused by extreme weather conditions. This is a direct cause to hunger in Africa as now they face starvation even when the markets stools are full with food, they just can't afford it. Their own crops and cattle got lost due, again, heavy rains or heavy droughts. South of France got surprised with flash floods, in Argentina they saw glaciers brake for the first time in decennia during Winter, ... I can go on for a wee bit longer here too.... But I guess it is all coincidence as we can not really put a direct scientific link to human induced climate change???!!!!

So maybe you should broaden this discussion a little and not just include the safety or the livelihood of the workers on the rig but ALSO include the safety and the livelihood of all that inhabit this planet!!!!!!

Hello realitycheck121

I totally believe you have a right to disagree with me and whoever else you choose, including Greenpeace, over this go beyond oil tour.

However, I would like to ask that you do it in a non-personal way. It makes others have time and inclination to listen to your points if they're not being insulted all the time.

Thanks

Firstly: FreeSpirit : get a life. If I have upset you I don't really care. If you read the shite you post you should not be surprised that (between vomiting) you attract criticism.

Greenpeace: Answer the questions.

I'm sick and tired from asking the same questions that go unanswered.

Come on, prove to us that you know what you are talking about.

COME ON LISA: the world is watching. WHERE IS ESPERANSA NOW?

Questions.
Rather than making me go look for them on my crappy internet connection - it would be good if you could ask them all in one go and under the same username.

Thanks.

Posted by lisavickers on 5 September 2010.
Thanks Lisa
Thank you for the reply Lisa.

A few comments.

I will not try to convince anyone that oil is safe etc.
I got small children and know there are battles to fight and others to ignore... :o)
Anyway, I might agree on the issues, but not in your way of taking action.
I think that breaking national and international laws to draw attention is not the way to do things.

I believe you do not want to elasticate the truth, but still, I see things are told in this blog, by you and your "collegues", in a way which makes them sound more dramatic than they might be.
But, like on Discovery Channel, drama works when you want to tell a story! :o)

An example.
In your blog about stupidity on an iceberg you wrote: "Our captain navigated the ship into a perfect position for us - several times amid lots of small icebergs in the water."
What is a small iceberg ?
10 x 10 meters ? 20 x 20 meters maybee ?
In this case, you were actually talking about growlers (I am pretty sure, as I were actually there the same day...), which is small pieces of ice in the water - not an iceberg, not even a small one.
There is a big difference, but when you read about an iceberg, you think about something big - most people do.
So, when navigating the ship between lots of icebergs, it sounds pretty dramatic.
It was not dramatic - am I right ?

To the point, once again, the way you tell the story makes it fit your cause ?
The drilling site off Greenland is a dangerous place to be in - or is it ?
What do you think ?
Is your captain a good sailor, or is he taking risks ?
:o)

Enjoy your journey toward the south.
Try Nigeria, oil is dangerous there...

Posted by CHS on 5 September 2010.
Comment from, Nuuk Greenland
The Greenpeace people who are at the helm today is of a different generation and there are not many from the sealskin campaign in the 70, s. I therefore believe that those who learned more about natural morality and ethics are the new Greenpeace people.
The new generation is accustomed to win in dramatic actions with great support from many sympathizers around the world.
In Greenland, they encounter a lot of criticism and second mood against the organization.
I hope that they in the road back will reflect on what has happened and that will they achieve better results in Greenland in the future so it does not seem to just "throw cobblestones" as in denmark. People in Greenland are of different caliber and culture and has a different approach to communication and togetherness. They are usually bottom honest by nature and require meaningful conversations.
Greenpeace and hopefully the world will see and learn how Greenland takes its global repsonsipility seriously, and these brave Inuit have once adapt new the beginning of time changing requirements, and is today in the absulutte front in the fight for the environment and is a great rolemodel for the rest of the world in terms of energy supply of greenenergy in large scala.
Do olso see the treatment of animals i Greeland. Not 1 animal in gage doped with medicine. All live in the almighty of the great nature. Greenland, you have an bravely and visionary people who are at the forefront in the worlds figth against pullution.
And if there is oil that is being said, then Greenland hopefully contribute to world may have time to adapt to new forms of energy, without the big drama shortage of oil will provide.
And I hope that Greenland makes good deals and show the world that there can be good relations between oilindustri and countries with no economisc abuse.

Posted by Knud Seblon on 5 September 2010.
Questions
Lisa, for a start you can reply to the following which have now been posted 3 times without response:

"RE; comments by web editor GPUK on blog How we slipped past Danish commandos

I refer to your totally inacurate comments:

"As for the drilling, the Stena Don has not found oil, it hasn't even found gas - that was the Stena Forth, the drilling ship in the same area. No chance of a spill because of our action."

The truth is that you do not know the status of this well and I challenge Greenpeace to provide the following information for the public domain:

1. What was the status of the well before Greenpeace invaded (as a minimum: depth, downhole pressure, gas concentration, etc) and how do you know that your intervention was not hazardous? Without this simple information you cannot know that it was safe to cause a suspension of the operation and your action was reckless.

2. How do you know that the Stena Don has not encountered gas/oil? The fact that a previous blog states that the Stena Forth has moved to a different location would indicate the exact opposite;ie the Stena Forth found nothing and has moved on but the Stena Don has.

3. Do Greenpeace have a Drilling Engineer onboard Esperanza advising them on the the technicalities and dangers of exploration drilling? This question has been asked previously and remains unanswered.

4. Can you provide evidence that the Rig Manager was advised (as claimed by Greenpeace) of the impending invasion by your activsists? By law every vessel MUST advise drilling units before they enter the 500m safety zone to avoid conflicts of operation. This is a fundemental safety requirement which you have breached. The so called Captain of the Esperanza should be ashamed of himself; at the very least I hope the authorities suspend his certification (if he has any) due to this breach of a fundemental safety requirement.

5. If you have caused the suspension of drilling operations on the Stena Don how are they going to secure this well before the season closes? Do you not understand that you cannot just stop and leave a live well? Again I refer to your total lack of research and drilling knowledge.

Do not assume that everyone supports your confrontational action (a quick look at your responses on this site will show you the real opinions).

Come on Greenpeace, I challenge you to prove that you know what you are talking about, that you thoroughly researched the current status onboard Stena Don and that you have not caused a hazardous situation."

So come on Lisa let's have some HONEST answers to these questions.

I think the best policy would be to just completely ignore any comments raised above. It's a predictable script and climate deniers use it all the time. It's a bit like a soap opera, the same old story gets regurgitated over and over again. I doubt if it would make any difference if Lisa or if anyone else from Greenpeace responded. Nothing would change. The two rival parties would continue to fire at each other, like two opposing party leaders at prime minsters question time. It's a totally polarised view point that can never be resolved.

This thread, and one particular individual in particular, is clearly just yet another internet troll hurling abuse, and generally filling up the bandwidth with mindless idiocy.

Best ignore, and as ever stop feeding the trolls, they'll soon grow bored and go waste their lives on some other site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_trolls

Much happy to read the blogs for the North Sea Tour. I wish you a calm sea, in order you can get in touch with those bottom-trawlers who continue to plunder the fish ressources and to destroy the bottom fragile ecosystems. Here in the Mediterranee, there are a few places where artificial reefs have been merged within the 3-miles boundary in order to physically prevent bottom-trawling. Are there similar reefs in the North Sea ? Love to all, especially our daughter on-board

But not anymore!

As a person who works for another charitable organisation, I think it is disgusting the level of dramatization that has gone into the writing about the events and actions undertaken by the protestors which are not based on facts.

I know what REALLY happened out there, including the fact that those very same Greenpeace protestors had be helped down by BIG EVIL OIL COMPANY when leaving and the reason they had to leave - was due to bad weather conditions. *OOOPS* Not such hardcore protestors then? Where's the commitment?

Some very valid points have been raised which I think is done in an intellectual way. I guess some of those here who have commented, insinuating that RealityCheck121's comments pertain to insulting Lisa is not the case. Obviously for one to perceive that one is not used to intellectually challenging debates which refer to facts as opposed to mere conjecture. I think Greenpeace SHOULD justify its actions - putting families loved one's at risk for what? What was achieved by these protestors? Drilling stopped for a mere few hours - thats nothing, when did it resume - whilst you were still there. Your chatting rubbish about it stopped until you guys left.

In all honesty I agree with Reality Check 121. At least he speaks the truth. I dislike liars & their lies - which is in essence what this blog is and has been. If Greenpeace are to be taken as a serious organization of serious people of principle, then it is best not to have "Glory-chasers" in such a public-facing capacity within the organization. Liars do nothing more than leave distaste in people's mouths... hence this blog.

You NEED Facts - show your research. Where did you get your information from? If your trying to raise awareness about the dangers of drilling to the environment - why create more of a danger? It was such a stupid illogical protest - nothing was achieved at all. lol!

As for those "Protesters" - what did they really achieve? Lets see - a fine, a criminal record and a little publicity - much to the annoyance and endangerment of others. Without humanity and compassion, there is no world to save...so try practicing what you preach.

Those "EVIL OIL DRILLERS" as you would like to believe, are REAL people too. Who are mothers, daughters, sons and fathers to those at home waiting for them to come home SAFELY. They are trained to do a job, and they work under very serious pressure - your little prank was nothing more than a distraction if that, which is something they can all do without. You NEED more information and better strategic planning - full stop.

The prank was pathetic in its attempts and to be honest rather like a child having tantrum - you got all worked up, put yourselves and others in danger - until the real adults had to SAVE you and then send you home.

Why not do something real in our world Greenpeace? Like help humanity within our local communities? Improve the impoverished lives of those in urban areas? Help rejuvenate the inner cities and suburbs? Save those who REALLY need help? Look to our future in schools - help educate our children not with bias but facts! Or is that too much of a reality and a far cry from your fantastical ideologies?

great but what can we do to physically stop it? has anyone got any good ideas for legally stopping the developement ? or is this a time for definate action?

Thanks Rob :-)

Hi Portia, Sounds like you are having a great time onboard, sounds like you are still really enjoying it. Have a great time, enjoy it! Cheers, Slade :)

"Every minute they were up there occupying the rig was another minute Cairn Energy couldn’t drill" Lisa, please stop continuing to mislead your supporters into believing that the GP action was a success...yes, they managed to board the rig; a good climbing feat ignoring the inconvenience of the leg ladders! However, drilling was not stopped for more than a few hours and actually came to an end for operational reasons...casing point! The Forth had TD'd, so wasn't drilling anyway when the boarding was underway. So, some accuracy and less elastication of the truth would be nice from here on. Oh, and the operation is not actually deep water drilling...too shallow to qualify for this.

The Subject box did not allow me enough letters. The idiot previously mentioned calls himself kickthehuskie. Nuff said. Best wishes and blessings to all at Greenpeace.

Good for GP. If it wasn't for your valiant action and your excellent blogs this sort of thing would be happening without us knowing, and yes it is important we know and stick up for what we believe is right.

Honestly, it passed the tedium out here. Fuel & supplies for a jolly up to Greenland - £ lots Fuel for helicopter tours of some icebergs - £ lots more Cost in time and money to Cairn during GP's occupation - zero The 4 'heroes' sheepishly asking the rig for help down because of the cold - £ priceless! Lisa, don't give up with the writing. Remember the infinite monkey theorem - one day you might come away with the truth.

"This has been a truly amazing event in protest history, I still remember getting up every day and rushing to the computer to see the latest news (to be honest, I do this pretty much everyday)" You sad, sad individual. Now please, you just sit in your pyramid swinging your crystal and keep posting these gut-wrenchingly awful blogs. You give a far better insight into the nutters in Greenpeace than I ever can.

@ kickthehuskie

The Danish government said it was shut down, Cairn said it was shut down and Upstream said it didn't come back on again until we left.

We're going on the facts given to us by reliable sources. And as far as I am aware - it would be illegal if they were drilling while there were people within the 500 metre zone.

@ CHS

I'm sorry I haven't been able to reply to comments as much as I would have liked. As you are probably aware - the oil rig is north of 70 degrees and it's difficult to get a regular satelite communications service up there. Now that we're going south I will aim to respond to reasonable comments and questions. However, I will not be responding to anything hateful or offensive.

I'm very open to have a dialogue about this campaign now that I am have better internet access. 

Our campaigners have a lot of experience working in campaigns involving the oil industry and this campaign was heavily researched - including extensive investigations into the Stena Don oil rig and Cairn Energy's plans. Experts were questioned, briefings were given... and for those of us who aren't so experienced and knowledgable we've had piles and piles of literature and research available to read on board for the past 3 weeks. I must admit that I haven't read ALL of it but - everything I have said on my blogs is based on information from reliable sources and things I have experienced first hand.

I don't claim to be an oil industry expert and I certainly don't try to 'elasticate the truth' as you say.

Besides - it doesn't take an oil industry expert to draw a dotted line between the BP oil spill, global warming, the current state of the Arctic and Cairn's cowboy operations off the coast of Greenland - and realise what they are doing is dangerous.

Greenpeace doesn't exist to educate the public. We've done our homework and we're here to take action. That doesn't mean we're not open to a dialouge but it does mean that we're not going to change our minds on Arctic drilling... unless you can convince us that oil is safe, a spill wont threaten one of the most pristine environments on Earth and an Arctic oil rush wont totally screw up our chances of fighting climate change. 

I don't like your chances - but feel free to try. :-)

Lisa