The day-long festival has also drawn anti-drilling activists, determined to show their opposition to drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean. The protest by “Shell No” kayaktivists is meant to publicize the message that people must “stand up for the climate and say no to Shell’s drilling plans.”
Alli Harvey, the Alaska representative for the Sierra Club’s Our Wild America campaign, released a statement on Friday, saying, “This weekend is another opportunity for the people to demand that their voices be heard. Science is as clear as day when it comes to drilling in the Arctic: the only safe place for these dirty fuels is in the ground.”
The centerpiece of the gathering that is expected to draw thousands, is a 4,000-square-foot barge, powered by renewable energy, said Sierra Club member, Jonathon Berman.
Polar Pioneer is just one of two drilling rigs Royal Dutch Shell plans to use this summer. The second rig, Noble Discoverer arrived at the Port of Everett last week. It is going to join Polar Pioneer at a later date at he Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5 at a later date.
Lisa Lefeber, a spokeswoman for Port of Everett said on Friday the Noble Discoverer will be there for another two or three weeks before being moved.
According to Royal Dutch Shell’s website, the Arctic contains “30 percent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas and 13 percent of the world’s oil reserves.”
“This amounts to around 400 billion barrels of oil equivalent, 10 times the total oil and gas produced in the North Sea to date,” Shell’s website says. “Developing Arctic resources could be essential to securing energy supplies for the future, but it will mean balancing economic, environmental and social challenges.”
Activists see the picture differently, however. Protesters contend all of us must take a stand “against dirty fossil fuel projects” if we want to save our increasingly fragile environment.
