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In a bold move by Greenpeace this past Friday, 6 activists, including Greenpeace’s Executive Director Kumi Naidoo, climbed on to the side of a Gazprom oil platform in the Pechora Sea just north of Russia to protest oil drilling in the Arctic. The activists were planning on starting a long term action, but about 15 hours into their occupation, they were forced to end their protest when the Gazprom crew began throwing pieces of metal at them and blasting them with cold water.

As of this morning, the activists have resumed their protest after intercepting a passenger vessel carrying work crew to the oil platform. The 14 activists from 10 different countries have apparently chained themselves to the passenger vessel’s anchor to stop it from reaching the platform, with Russian Coast guards standing by.

Gazprom, which is partially owned by the Russian Government, erected the platform in the Pechora Sea about a year ago in anticipation of being the first country to drill for oil in the Arctic. Environmentalists are extremely worried however as a report done by an independent Russian Think Tank commissioned by Greenpeace and The World Wildlife Fund found that a major oil spill in the area could reach protected Arctic nature reserves within 20 hours. They also found that spill response teams would need at least three days to reach a spill in the harsh weather conditions of the Arctic.

Adding to concerns is an Associated Press investigation which reported that outdated Russian technology and infrastructure have resulted in about 5 million tons of oil being spilled in Russia every year. This is equivalent to one Deepwater Horizon-scale leak every 60 days.

GUEST: Kumi Naidoo is the Executive Director of Greenpeace

Visit www.greenpeace.org for more information.