Video: Greenpeace Hits Shell Petrol Stations

Submitted by edg on Tue, 17 Jul '12 7.56am
Video clip

Yesterday, Greenpeace activists said that they have shut down 77 Shell petrol stations ("some more than once") in Edinburgh and London in protest at Shell's plans to drill in the ecologically fragile Arctic. 

Campaigners were using an emergency shut-off switch to turn pumps off and then removing and posting the fuse to the oil company's headquarter's in London.

Campaigners (some dressed as polar bears) chained themselves to the pump and occupied the roof of  the Shell petrol station in Dalry Road in Edinburgh in the early hours of the campaign.

However, Greenpeace apparently only managed to shut down three of the 14 Edinburgh petrol stations - in Seafield Road, Leith and Maybury Road. Lothian and Borders Police reportedly kept guard at the city Shell stations.

The day of action saw a total of 24 arrests across the country with seven Greenpeace activists held by police in Edinburgh.

The action was part of Greenpeace's Save the Arctic campaign.

"The oil giant Shell is preparing, for the first time, to unleash a drilling fleet of huge vessels upon the fragile and beautiful Arctic, home of the polar bears," said Greenpeace's Sara Ayech.

"An oil spill in the Arctic would be catastrophic for wildlife such as walruses and whales, and Shell knows full well that it would be impossible to clean up after such devastation. The Arctic must be saved, and made a global sanctuary where oil drilling is banned."

The action was streamed in a live television show on Greenpeace's web site. Some of the highlights from the day are in the above clip.

Responding to the campaign, a Shell spokesperson said: "Shell recognises that certain organisations are opposed to our exploration programme Offshore Alaska, and we respect the right of individuals and organisations to engage in a free and frank exchange of views about our operations."