Royal Dutch Shell got the final go-ahead from the federal government to start drilling for oil in the Arctic, according to a news release from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).
“After extensive review and under a robust array of safety requirements … Shell has received approval of one Application for Permit to Modify (APM) to conduct exploratory drilling activities into potential oil-bearing zones offshore Alaska,” the BSEE release says.
Shell was awaiting arrival of the Fennica, a 180-foot ice breaking ship that was temporarily in Portland last month for repairs. The Fennica carries a piece of equipment called a “capping stack” that’s used to plug the oil well’s hole in the event of a blowout.
Greenpeace climbers and “kayaktivists” on the Willamette were able to delay the Fennica’s departure for almost 40 hours in a huge protest that got international attention. The activists were hopeful the delay would make it impossible for Shell to drill this season, but it looks like that isn’t so.
The Fennica arrived at the exploratory well’s location in the Chukchi Sea on Aug. 11.
The US Department of the Interior estimates that there is a 75 percent chance of an oil spill of at least 42,000 gallons within the next 64 years if Shell is allowed to drill in the Arctic and says the cleanup in the case of a spill would be especially difficult because of the remote location and fragile arctic ecosystem.
Sooooo…
I guess all those extra fossil fuels spent in traffic (I myself wasted a gallon in a fuel efficient Honda), the use of fuels by cops, Coast Guard, the transportation of those Greenspeace hangers to here and back home, etc etc
…
WAS ALL FOR NOTHING.
Why am I not surprised by this?
Oh, that ‘estimate’ of fuel spillage, WITHIN THE NEXT 64 YEARS was a cute addition.