The organization explains why it decided to board the Prirazlomnaya oil platform

Aug 24, 2012 13:29 GMT  ·  By

Earlier today, we reported on how six Greenpeace members boarded a Russian oil platform that was to begin drilling in the Pechora Sea.

Now, the organization wishes to explain to the citizens of Russia exactly why it is that they decided to embark on this course of actions by sending them an open letter.

Written by Kumi Naidoo, the executive director for Greenpeace International, the letter begins by explaining how, as a result of improper management and inadequate drilling technologies, the Russian oil industry is to be held responsible for significant and regular spills, which both harm the environment, and cause it to lose considerable amounts of money.

Apparently, the oil spilled all throughout Russia on a yearly basis is basically the equivalent of what would be extracted from the Pechora Sea should the Gazprom company commence its drilling operations there.

Therefore, “It would be far less expensive for the oil companies, the government, the people of Russia, and certainly the Indigenous Peoples who depend on this environment, to simply recover and use the oil lost in spills, than it would be to exploit the pristine Arctic shelf.”

Furthermore, Kumi Naidoo justifies his most recent actions as follows: “ I took part in this peaceful action today to declare (…) an end to the madness that is putting the profits of an elite few above the interests and safety of the rest of us.”

According to this message sent to ordinary folk in Russia, what worries Greenpeace the most with respect to drilling operations in this part of the world is the fact that, as one of their recent investigations on this matter revealed, oil company Gazprom is virtually unprepared to efficiently tackle any oil spill that might occur in these waters.

More precisely, the oil leaking into the environment would take about 20 hours to contaminate surrounding ecosystems, whereas Gazprom would require a few days before being able to counteract the problem.

Lastly, Greenpeace's International Executive Director wishes to draw attention to the fact that, because most of Russia is covered in permafrost, its citizens are bound to experience the severe consequences of climate change and global warming ever more frequently.

Therefore, they need to get involved in keeping oil companies from further aggravating these issues by drilling in these frozen waters.

The letter is available in its entirety on the organization's website.