Over My Dead Body: "Why I Put My Body On The Line For The World"

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http://www.alternet.org/activism/over-my-dead-body-why-i-put-my-body-line-world



***SNIP

The Setup

It’s three days earlier, on August 24, 2012 and Basil is on one of two portable ledges with tents on them on the side of Gazprom’s monstrous oil rig. An hour ago, Basil and five other Greenpeace activists from around the world had climbed up the Prirazlomnaya, in teams of three, using its mooring lines. The teams each set up a portaledge.

Basil shares a portaledge with Terry Christenson and Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International Executive Director, who starts taking media calls. Kumi explains that Gazprom is planning on beginning its oil drilling operations early next year, making it the first company to start commercial oil production in the offshore Arctic. He passionately describes how, the carbon dioxide admissions from drilling will continue to cause the ice in the Arctic to melt, at a time when 75 percent of Arctic sea ice has already been lost. Yet, sea ice is what keeps the planet cool, reflecting sunlight. Plus, if oil drilling in the Arctic begins, Kumi emphasizes, an oil spill will happen, causing irreversible damages.

Basil looks up and sees workers gathering at the rig’s edge. One worker is giving him the finger. Another sneaks him a thumbs-up. Suddenly, Basil sees one of the rig’s massive cranes lowering down toward their portaledge. The crane is carrying a worker, who nears the ledge and says:

“How long will you be here?”