Environmental groups have branded Greenland’s government “completely irresponsible” for giving the go-ahead for the drilling of two new oil wells west of Disko-Nuussuaq. Greenpeace has called the decision to hand out the licenses “indefensible” at a time when Norway, Canada and the US are freezing new permits. All three countries have declared moratoria on deepwater drilling after the colossal and ongoing environmental disaster caused by the explosion on a BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
WWF has also spoken out against the move, saying “an immediate moratorium on new drilling activities in the Arctic is a basic requirement until the international community has considered the need for increased regulation and stronger environmental standards,” reports Sermitsiaq.
UK-based energy firm Cairn also asked for permission to drill another two wells in West Greenland in addition to those already underway. Environmentalists have, however, called for all projects to be halted immediately.
“It’s bitterly disappointing that oil exploration has begun in this sensitive Arctic environment,” said WWF’s head of policy Dr Dan Barlow. “The decision to drill flies in the face of decisions by other countries to postpone drilling while they take stock of the Gulf of Mexico disaster.”
“It is time for countries to recognise that offshore oil drilling with current technology and response capability poses unacceptable risks in the Arctic, where conditions are far more extreme. The consequences of such an event in the cold climate would lead to a persistence of ecological damage over many decades,” he said.
The Gulf oil spill has affected five US states and is thought to be the worst environmental disaster in their history, reports Siku News.
[…] Greenland’s new oil contracts condemned by green groups […]
[…] Greenland’s new oil contracts condemned by green groups […]
Environmentalists are dragging the heavy weight of impotent rhetoric that doesn’t work anymore. They need to ditch the tree-hugging talk and take up the blazing populist sword of Anti-Banksters. Those oil companies and drillers won’t do anything if the banksters aren’t behind them. The banksters are the keystone of the global Bastille!
Arguments against oil drilling create a moral ambiguity in the mass mind. Yes, there is pollution but, we need the oil. You can’t go to war behind an uncertain trumpet call. If they could turn the argument into the loud and strong rebuke of criminal foreign banksters trying to steal Greenland’s natural resources while leaving behind a trail of death and destruction for profit, THAT would get people mad! THAT is a trumpet call to arms!
The average Greenlander doesn’t have much to lose if a few polar bears gets greased by bankers in pursuit of profit. The average Greenlander WILL get motivated if he feels like his future is directly threatened by the same bankers who’ve destroyed entire nations and caused the deaths of over 200 million around the world in the 20th century. Follow the money and you’ll eventually find hell itself.