14 DAY TRIAL // As you probably already know, it has only been a few days since several Greenpeace activists engaged in a series of peaceful protests in the Pechora Sea, their one goal being to keep a Russian drilling platform from commencing its operations in this regions.
After sending an open letter to the people of Russia, Greenpeace has now chosen to address President Putin in a similar manner, both explaining their most recent actions to him, and asking that he understands what drove them towards taking over the Russian drilling platform.
[admark=1]Signed by Kumi Naidoo, the executive director for Greenpeace International, this letter to President Putin reads: “I want to personally assure you that these protests were in no way directed against the interests of Russia, of people working on the platform, or even against the company Gazprom.”
“It is my deeply held conviction that oil production in the Arctic is counter to the environmental and economic security of Russia,” Kumi Naidoo further explains.
Thus, Greenpeace aims at convincing President Putin that drilling or not drilling in the Arctic are decisions that need to go beyond any personal interests, and that the protests carried out by this organization in the Pechora Sea are by no means some sort of an attack against Russia, but an attempt to push for a cause more important than any financial or private interests various people might have with respect to these frozen waters.
Kumi Naidoo also points out that, “We [Greenpeace] we are not calling for stopping the use of petroleum products today. However, it is clear that global oil production will not the able to be maintained much longer at the current level.”
Hopefully, President Putin will give due consideration to these lines sent to him by Greenpeace, and will agree to support this organization in this battle against Arctic drilling.
As Kumi Naidoo puts it, “We need global leadership to ensure that the Arctic is declared a global sanctuary and I appeal to you to step forward to provide it.”