Greenpeace fines: $2,500 / hour, for blocking a Shell Oil ship from leaving Portland

Icebreaker Fennica, source Wikimedia (attribution license - author Marcusroos  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Icebreaker_Fennica.jpg
Icebreaker Fennica, source Wikimedia (attribution license – author Marcusroos https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Icebreaker_Fennica.jpg

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

A US judge in Anchorage has slapped a massive accumulating fine on Greenpeace of $2500 per hour, rising to $10,000 / hour, for every hour Greenpeace activists block Shell Oil ship MSV Fennica from leaving Portland, to sail for Alaska.

According to Sky News;

A US judge has slapped a $US2,500 ($A3,426.77) fine on Greenpeace for every hour its activists continue to block a Shell Oil ship headed for Alaska on a drilling expedition.

The activists have been hanging from ropes since Wednesday from a bridge in Portland, Oregon’s main city, to prevent the departure of the MSV Fennica, a Shell icebreaker that was in town for repairs.

But federal judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage, Alaska’s biggest city, ruled in the oil giant’s favour on Thursday, imposing the hourly fine until the protesters withdraw, a court official told AFP.

The fine will increase the longer the protest continues, according to the local KGW News.

Starting at 10am on Friday (0300 AEST on Saturday), Greenpeace will be fined $US5,000 an hour, increasing to $US7,500 an hour on Saturday and $US10,000 an hour from Sunday.

Read more: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/nthamerica/2015/07/31/judge-fines-greenpeace-for-blocking-ship.html

Greenpeace is a massive multi million dollar international organisation, with assets in the 10s of millions, so in principle they could laugh off even a $10,000 / hour fine for at least several weeks before feeling the financial strain. My guess is there may be some interesting discussions occurring now in Greenpeace HQ, about how much money they should burn to make their point.

Update

The MSV Fennica made it past the protestors at 6pm Thursday, according to Oregon Live.

Just before 6 p.m. Thursday, the controversial icebreaker MSV Fennica threaded through a hole cut by law enforcement in the wall of protesters suspended from the St. Johns Bridge.

A police Special Emergency Response Team officer rappelled over the bridge and cut the lines connecting the protesters dangling from the bridge. Then Portland Fire Bureau technical rescue teams moved in, with some firefighters going over the bridge’s edge and asking the protesters to voluntarily ease themselves down to waiting boats.

The first two protesters came down on their own but the third wouldn’t communicate. Firefighters connected two rope lines to his lines, removed his anchor and lowered him on their attached lines to a boat.

Their work opened a gap just wide enough for the Fennica’s safe passage.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2015/07/greenpeace_protesters_claim_sy.html

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Leonard Lane
July 30, 2015 10:46 pm

Eric: Do you think Greenpeace will pay these fines or will they get to a liberal judge to overturn the fines?

Latitude
Reply to  Leonard Lane
July 31, 2015 7:10 am

Leo, doesn’t matter…their money goes to “activists” in the first place
What pisses me off, the judge fined them, so what…and that money will not go to Shell to cover their costs of this…that money will go into government pots and stay there
They broke the law…if the judge was not corrupt he would have had them arrested and it would have been jail time

RWturner
Reply to  Latitude
July 31, 2015 8:57 am

Agreed. If anyone else were blocking shipping traffic for any other reason, they would have been arrested before they even finished tying off. I’m certain Shell is keeping a tally of the costs from all of this protesting and will take Greenpeace to civil court to recoup the costs, why wouldn’t they?

Reply to  Latitude
July 31, 2015 12:38 pm

What time of the summer is it? What year did AGW promoters previously say the Arctic was going to be ice-free in the summer? What exact kind of ship was Greenpeace blocking here?
Icebreaker, icebreaker, icebreaker, icebreaker, icebreaker, icebreaker, icebreaker, icebreaker.
But on the topic of fines, any update of fines paid or voluntary repair gifts given by Greenpeace over the Nazca Lines scandal? They don’t mention any such thing here: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/Nazca-Timeline/

brians356
Reply to  Russell Cook (@questionAGW)
July 31, 2015 1:04 pm

Here’s part of GP’s “explanation” for what happened in Peru. These people have descended into clownishness. By way of “apologizing” they go off on climate change. Meandering narrative like this got Barry Bonds indicted for obstruction of justice (recently overturned) because the judge said he was “rambling” in his responses.
“The action took place on the occasion of at a climate conference in Lima, where government leaders had a historic opportunity to tackle the effects of climate change. While the conference was proceeding, our International Executive Director, Kumi Naidoo, was in the Philippines to witness the damage done by typhoon Hagupit. Nearly a million people were evacuated from their homes as Hagupit became the third typhoon in three years to hit the coast. For many people climate change has become a matter of survival.”
So you see, climate change isn’t in the future, it’s already happened. Proof: The Phillipines have never experienced Typhoons before!

highflight56433
Reply to  Latitude
August 2, 2015 6:35 pm

Shell won’t do diddly to recover the cost; if they do, they will simply return the funds in donation. Shell donates to Greenpeace and other greeners to lobby legislators regulate against coal so those nasty coal fired generators are converted to “clean” methane – sold by Shell. Duh

brians356
Reply to  Leonard Lane
July 31, 2015 11:13 am

Since local police and firefighters risked life and limb (and consumed local resources) to counter these thugs, I would think Greenpeace and these home-grown terrorists will now be subject to local fines and/or criminal prosecution. Hope springs eternal.

Kenji
July 30, 2015 10:48 pm

With a little luck, Jane Fonda will personally finance their fines with all of her inherited wealth … maybe then, she wouldn’t be able to afford a private jet flying her all over the planet to lecture people about using fossil fuels

July 30, 2015 10:49 pm
Reply to  Max Photon
July 30, 2015 11:07 pm

Ha

Steve C
Reply to  Max Photon
July 31, 2015 12:31 am

Oh, for a broadsword and a stroll across that bridge …

Reply to  Steve C
August 1, 2015 12:59 am

+many

ozspeaksup
Reply to  Max Photon
July 31, 2015 4:18 am

++++ rofl 😉

Jbird
Reply to  Max Photon
July 31, 2015 8:06 am

If they’re sitting in climbing harnesses, I can promise them some pretty severe hemorrhoids and possibly blood clots in their lower legs for their trouble. Not smart.

Duster
Reply to  Jbird
July 31, 2015 11:15 am

No requirement for smart.

MarkW
Reply to  Jbird
July 31, 2015 2:59 pm

Not smart is a job requirement for them.

PiperPaul
Reply to  Jbird
July 31, 2015 4:51 pm

Most climate activists aren’t recruited for their smarts, they have to exhibit other personality traits and attributes like, say, narcissism, bad at math, high BS tolerance level, revenge fantasies, resentment, delusions of grandeur, virtue-signalling, projection, irrationality, persecution complex, etc.

Reply to  Max Photon
July 31, 2015 1:06 pm

The bridge they are anchored to is a landmark, which costs in the millions to repaint (I used to work in the Bridge Engineering Section at Oregon DOT). These goons don’t care how much it costs poor Oregonians, or they never thought of how much damage they do to everything they touch (it seems to me).

Reply to  Max Photon
July 31, 2015 1:15 pm

That looks superb! I think it adds to the beauty of the area and enhances the architecture of the bridge.
Should be left there permanently. A bit like the human decorations that they used to put on medieval castle….in a cage!!

Reply to  Max Photon
July 31, 2015 5:14 pm

Speaking of what Max said is on the cable, …uh… I’m sure Mother Nature (not to be confused with Ma’ Gaia) at some point took it’s course.
With the EPA going nuts over air and water nowadays, shouldn’t there be a few additional fines?
Or does that Depends?

lee
July 30, 2015 10:53 pm

‘The activists have been hanging from ropes since Wednesday ‘
Obviously they have the rope attached wrongly.

Reply to  lee
July 30, 2015 11:58 pm

+100
So true.

Bryan A
Reply to  lee
July 31, 2015 10:12 am

After the Ice Breaker gets by, they should be rehung with nooses

tobyglyn
July 30, 2015 10:54 pm

Why are they bothering to block the icebreaker? Surely there is no ice left up there anyway 🙂

Peter Miller
Reply to  tobyglyn
July 31, 2015 6:12 am

Excellent point.
After all, Al Gore promised an ice free would have happened by now and we all know how you can trust a failed politician seeking fame and glory.

Ian Macdonald
July 30, 2015 11:00 pm

Good news but to a certain extetnt a self-defeating exercise since the fine comes from our money anyway, in the form of NGO backing from birdchopper sellers who are in turn paid via public subsidies. The best answer is to cut the subsidies, then the funding for these pressure groups will dry up. Put it this way, if you want to get rid of the weed you dig up the root, cutting off the leaves is at best a temporary solution.

John de Melle
Reply to  Ian Macdonald
July 30, 2015 11:29 pm

Far better to cut the ropes.

old construction worker
Reply to  John de Melle
July 31, 2015 2:04 am

My first thought also or steer the ice breaker through them. Greenpeace put themselves in danger.

ralfellis
Reply to  John de Melle
July 31, 2015 5:33 am

Like the British ferry boxed in by floating ropes from French protestors in Calais, many years ago. The ferry trailed its anchors in the water and steamed through at 15 knots, with the French scattering like pigeons.
Normally I have some sympathy with strikers, but the French port-workers and french airtraffic controllers have spoiled each summer for that last 30 years. They are a parasite on the back of the hardworking holidaymaker.

Bryan A
Reply to  John de Melle
July 31, 2015 10:13 am

Or slip nooses about their necks and raise them a little higher, out of the path of the ship

MarkW
Reply to  John de Melle
July 31, 2015 3:01 pm

I would have fired up the ice breaker, and then see how fast they could climb up the ropes to get out of the way.

Reply to  John de Melle
August 1, 2015 1:01 am

Far better to use slip knots.

noaaprogrammer
Reply to  John de Melle
August 1, 2015 4:11 pm

They should have just used grappling hooks to pull apart two of the danglers – one to the left and one to the right – just far enough to let the ship pass between them – and then let them go, to swing into each other.

Steve in Seattle
July 30, 2015 11:01 pm

green peas = eco facists thugs. If they fell into the Willamette river, it would only pollute the water.

Bunker Hill Jim
Reply to  Steve in Seattle
July 30, 2015 11:10 pm

I would have loved seeing a ‘line cutting’ drone zip through … ” Houston, We have splashdown !”

Alan Robertson
Reply to  Bunker Hill Jim
July 31, 2015 12:44 am

Displayed intent to
Force the world onto its knees
Time for katana

chris moffatt
Reply to  Steve in Seattle
July 31, 2015 7:38 am

Unless they were all wearing adult pampers they were polluting the river anyway after 40 hours. Disappointing that here is only one charge being laid. All others go free. And it was a judge in Alaska not Oregon.

Bryan A
Reply to  chris moffatt
July 31, 2015 10:16 am

If they were wearing Adult Pampers, they were still polluting the river after about 12 hours, Those things don’t hold $H17 even though that was their intended purpose.

Reply to  chris moffatt
July 31, 2015 11:08 am

Pampers are little more that pee sponges.
For real men and women, you need some “Oops, I Crapped My Pants” adult diapers:

Reply to  Steve in Seattle
July 31, 2015 1:22 pm

If they happen to “fell” they would probably sue the pants off the Government for building an unsafe bridge….

Bunker Hill Jim
July 30, 2015 11:05 pm

Fennica headed downstream on Columbia River near Mill Creek … CG Wahoo following 1/4 mile behind (sorry, bad night photo on iPhone) /Users/jim/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2015/07/30/20150730-220604/IMG_2543.JPG

Bunker Hill Jim
July 30, 2015 11:09 pm

try again
oh, damn …. photo didn’t copy/paste worth a hoot ! Sorry

BC
July 30, 2015 11:14 pm

Religious nut jobs

July 30, 2015 11:29 pm

Neither peaceful or green,
Just naive and left wing,
I suppose you could argue
They’re both the same thing!

Dawtgtomis
Reply to  rhymeafterrhyme
July 31, 2015 12:32 pm

” ‘s 😉

Reply to  rhymeafterrhyme
July 31, 2015 4:26 pm

Yes, ‘naive’ is a synonym for ‘green.’

July 30, 2015 11:34 pm

This is my part of the world being Vancouver WA just across the Columbia River from Keep Portland Weird OR. This stunt like many from Green Piece is getting more negative response then positive.
At the same time they and local chapters have been involved in trying to block a oil by rail to ship terminal in my city of Vancouver WA. The terminal would be the biggest in the US shortening the rail miles and better delivering 360,000 barrels of Bakkain oil a day to west coast refineries.
For the majority of us we are tired of lame protests that feed Greepiece, Sierra Club and many local groups like Columbia River Keepers. Good thing this was in Portland the other side of the Columbia would have asked for the full extent of the low and cost of dealing with this.

Dan Murphy
Reply to  Jon Alldritt
July 31, 2015 5:08 pm

Jon, my guess for a while has been that these type of NGOs (GP, Sierra, WWF, etc.) are getting funded by our competitors, especially the State competitors, such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, etc. I have no proof, but think about it. Isn’t that what you’d do if you were a Saudi prince? I know that’s what I’d do if I was. (I’m not.)

MarkW
Reply to  Dan Murphy
August 1, 2015 8:21 am

They claim to have proof that Russia has been funding Green movements in Europe.
They have proven that Russia funded many of the “anti-war” movements back during the cold war days.

AndyG55
July 30, 2015 11:39 pm

Suppose someone up north needs rescuing using the ice-breaker, and DIES because the icebreaker couldn’t get there.
That would be pretty close to manslaughter, wouldn’t it ??
Is the ice breaker needed to help get food and supplies to ice-bound ports of other places ??
Greenpeace are getting very close to being CRIMINAL organisation. !!

Reply to  AndyG55
July 31, 2015 12:00 am

Personally, I think they are already there.

Reply to  AndyG55
July 31, 2015 4:40 am

Only improvement on that scenario is if the breaker was on it’s way up to free another trapped “Ship of Fools” doing climate research and getting stuck in the ice 🙂

Auto
Reply to  jimmaine
July 31, 2015 12:39 pm

Jim
That’s stuck in the ice that doesn’t exist any longer.
Mods – of course there is /SARC!
Auto

Skiphil
Reply to  AndyG55
July 31, 2015 2:16 pm

This is not “close” to criminal activity, it is clearly against the law. They think their lawlessness is somehow justified by appeal to a “higher” morality. Sensible people would say that both their ethics and their legal positions are fraudulent.

Get Real
Reply to  Skiphil
August 2, 2015 9:21 pm

I thought that interfering with a ship at sea was an act of piracy. Seems greenpeace are above the law as well as the water.

Reply to  AndyG55
July 31, 2015 4:27 pm

They don’t care; they think themselves above the law, what’s left of it.

Barbara Skolaut
Reply to  AndyG55
July 31, 2015 4:35 pm

Close?

Other_Andy
July 30, 2015 11:49 pm

Talk about air pollution!

Ex-expat Colin
July 31, 2015 12:01 am

The bridge is public property and the local authority using the police should have hooked them off…for their own safety.
But it don’t work like that does it?

MarkW
Reply to  Ex-expat Colin
July 31, 2015 3:05 pm

Hook each rope to a winch, and start pulling. One way or another, they are coming up, straight into the loving arms of the police.

July 31, 2015 12:03 am

This has made my day. They’ll fold. Sure they could afford to hang around for awhile (sorry about the pun), but they like money too much and don’t like to spend it. The idiots on the ropes might be willing, but the ones with control of the money won’t like it a bit.

July 31, 2015 12:05 am

They should be arrested for making the most boring 3 hours of news coverage evah!

Louis Hunt
July 31, 2015 12:11 am

A game of chicken would be fun to watch.

Ed Zuiderwijk
July 31, 2015 12:34 am

Last year the hundred odd paid employees of Greenpeace, who work in a building on one of Amsterdam’s prime locations, were up in arms when it became widely published that two of their bosses were happy to fly in on an almost daily basis from as far away as Luxembourg, where they happily lived. They were afraid that the bad publicity would affect the organisation’s finances and thus endanger their jobs as professional activists.
They must be soiling their pants right now.

michael hart
Reply to  Ed Zuiderwijk
July 31, 2015 4:12 am

When you’re hanging from a bridge there aren’t many places you can go.

Reply to  Ed Zuiderwijk
August 1, 2015 1:09 am

@ Ed what happened to that story? I believe it was mentioned on WUWT but kinda disappeared, have you got more info? It sure looks like Fonda and her ilk are using the same methods!

Eyal Porat
July 31, 2015 12:39 am

Anybody care for piniata game?

NW sage
Reply to  Eyal Porat
July 31, 2015 4:45 pm

I was thinking of taking my pellet gun down there and getting in a little target practice.

Ed Zuiderwijk
July 31, 2015 12:54 am

Latest: protest cleared. (It’s the Guardian, so it must be true)
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jul/30/portland-shell-bridge-protesters-greenpeace-fined

fretslider
Reply to  Ed Zuiderwijk
July 31, 2015 1:38 am

Man are the Groaniadistas frothing at the mouth!!!!
The shrill cries not use oil, petrol etc etc etc are hilarious given that they’ve used machines made from petroleum derived plastics powered by fossil fuels to make their [very silly] point.
A real Friday funny

July 31, 2015 1:07 am

Rope-a-dopes.

Harry Passfield
Reply to  Mark and two Cats
July 31, 2015 2:43 am

Certainly no chance of being confused with ‘soap on a rope’

Dawtgtomis
Reply to  Harry Passfield
July 31, 2015 12:41 pm

They look more like loofah drying.

Harry Passfield
Reply to  Mark and two Cats
July 31, 2015 1:40 pm

Great Spoonerism (nearly), Dawtgtomis: Lying Droofahs!

Peter Miller
July 31, 2015 1:29 am

Eco-warriors or ecoloons?
High profile gimmicks and bad science is what Greenpeace is all about and not much else. However, I do admire their ability to raise huge amounts of funds from the hopelessly gullible.

Felflames
July 31, 2015 2:09 am

Hmm, water canon on the ship + a weight dangling from a rope.
That could be a lot of fun.
Or a drone armed with a dremel and a bit of free time…

Reply to  Felflames
July 31, 2015 9:15 am

The drone would be fun but with carbon fiber blades there is no need for a Dremel. The carbon fiber the blades are made of is really thin and they cut very well. My bushes found out the hard way while I was testing my new Hexacopter. The blades were cutting 3/4 inch branches off clean and it didn’t bother the hexacopter at all until it hit the main trunk. After watching that I now stand well away from it when I am taking off. I haven’t seen too many things that are as scary as a three horsepower six bladed flying buss saw, but it does take lovely pictures and video.

Reply to  Matt Bergin
August 1, 2015 1:12 am

Post the vid! Please! And where do I get a hexacopter?

Sasha
July 31, 2015 2:31 am

These stunts will continue until December.
It is all part of a plan.

Alan the Brit
July 31, 2015 2:34 am

Imagine!
Greepeace parents of another newborn “burden on the planet”, (they’re ALL heart, aren’t they?)…..”Dr, what’s wrong with our child?” Dr…..”Your baby was born too prematurely, it has to go into one of these incubators to survive, & it will take a few weeks or even a month or two, we can’t be certain!” Parents….”Are you sure he will make it?”…..Dr….”I am sure he will, although maintenance staff tell us we’re running short of diesel fuel for the back-up generators, so me & all the maternity staff are really worried about all the power cuts we’ve been experiencing of late, so there’s a real risk that he may not make it! If we could ensure security of fuel supply we’d be far more confident! The thing is, it’s those protesters who are blocking the oil trucks at all the refineries stopping them making essential deliveries, are causing a real problem, people could start to die!”
We ALL know how hypocritical they all are, when push comes to shove, they’ll beg for fossil fuels, when it comes to their own, to hell with anyone else!

Reply to  Alan the Brit
July 31, 2015 2:48 am

Agreed! If they got to the bridge by sail-boat/bicycle/on foot and their ropes were made of hemp as opposed to nylon or other man-made fibres, I might not view them with quite so much contempt.

Mike McMillan
Reply to  andrewmharding
July 31, 2015 3:34 am

Nylon and poly-type rope fibers are petroleum based.
Their protest would be more meaningful if they boycotted all petroleum products (like gasoline).

John M. Ware
July 31, 2015 2:36 am

Did I not read here recently that there is, indeed, ice still up in the Arctic? Some group wanted to make a voyage up there and was blocked by the ice, which hasn’t disappeared as the warmists expected. If I am remembering correctly, there is still work for an icebreaker to do.

Duster
Reply to  John M. Ware
July 31, 2015 11:22 am

Ice is at 1980s levels in the Arctic Ocean and in eastern Hudson Bay a Canadian icebreaker had to cancel climate research to break ice so that settlements along the shore could be resupplied.

David Chapman
July 31, 2015 3:23 am

India has the right idea. The government has declared it an illegal organisation and frozen its bank accounts in that country.

Felflames
Reply to  David Chapman
July 31, 2015 5:07 am

Funny would be seeing their accounts seized and used to build more coal fired power stations.

nigelf
Reply to  Felflames
July 31, 2015 5:48 pm

All that would take would be a President who cares about the country to make it so.
Maybe next year
Sigh..

July 31, 2015 3:45 am

Greenpeace is obviously a bunch of idiots who break laws seemingly everywhere they go. But they are just a more activist group that represents a lot of folks who agree with their methods and their goals. After all, a lot of people send donations to them.
Consider this event. They wanted to keep one Shell Oil ship from leaving its berth and proceeding on its way toward Alaska because it was on a drilling mission. Greenpeace could fight Alaskan drilling or exploration in the courts, but it decided that illegal obstruction was the route to go. Greenpeace always chooses the illegal route.
As mentioned above, India decided that Greenpeace was an legal organization. I can’t see why more countries don’t take the same approach. Do the laws not matter to most countries?

PiperPaul
Reply to  markstoval
July 31, 2015 5:04 pm

Greenpeace could fight Alaskan drilling or exploration in the courts, but it decided that illegal obstruction was the route to go.
But they knew they’d get free publicity with a typical moron stunt, so they went with that. And probably got some increased donations/signups from the brain-impaired, easily-led and overly-emotional.

jakee308
July 31, 2015 4:11 am

They should’ve mounted a windmill on the bow of the ship. Let them find out how the birds feel about large blades slicing through the air.

Mark from the Midwest
July 31, 2015 5:41 am

Don’t these people have real jobs?

chris moffatt
Reply to  Mark from the Midwest
July 31, 2015 7:43 am

No.

Editor
July 31, 2015 5:53 am

If I lived there, I think I’d give into the temptation to buy a drone with a camera and practice on their slalom course

EJ
July 31, 2015 6:08 am

Greenpeace should have a new moniker, GreenFleece.

Reply to  EJ
July 31, 2015 8:18 am

I prefer “Greenpeeve”, peeve being an irritant.

Taphonomic
July 31, 2015 8:07 am

Now Greenpeace can see if they can find another World Heritage Site to damage.

Joel Snider
July 31, 2015 8:16 am

This is all going on down the road from me. It’s been a huge inconvenience for everyone in the city. The St. Johns Bridge is one of the arteries connecting the city, and the powers- that-be in Portland are simply letting these @#$%##!!! take over the bridge, closing it down to traffic – Mayor Charlie Hales has been holding the police back (he’s been involved with the Vatican’s climate agenda deal), and simply letting them prevent the ship from leaving. For those of you unfamiliar, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber was recently run out of office because his grafter girlfriend, Cylvia Hayes (something like twenty years younger than him), was busted peddling influence for her own green crusade (she’ is quoted as saying, “I don’t work for the state, I work for the Earth” – while not even being a state employee – just sleeping with the Governor). Among other scams, Ms Hayes is also known for having accepted several thousand dollars for a sham marriage to get an illegal immigrant citizenship status and spending the money on a pot grow operation. All the details are still pending but she also seems to be involved with one Mr. Tom Steyer – I suspect this is all part of a coordination between the governor’s offices of the three west coast states, OR, WA, CA, to allow disruption of the oil shipments going up and down the coast (Kitzhaber’s replacement, Kate Brown is even worse… and hasn’t seem to have been influenced by my fifteen page letter on the subject of AGW).
On a positive note, we here in Oregon are experiencing the hottest summer in years and these idiots dangling off the bridge are doing so in the first hundred-degree weather we’ve had since 2012. So, even though they seem to be successfully disrupting river (and road) traffic – they’re all baking in the sun and I’m sure it really sucks. A bit of a sweet irony.

Dan Murphy
Reply to  Joel Snider
July 31, 2015 5:27 pm

Joel, as I replied to Jon above in the comments, my guess for a while has been that these type of NGOs (GP, Sierra, WWF, etc.) are getting funded by our competitors, especially the State competitors, such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, etc. I have no proof, but think about it. Isn’t that what you’d do if you were a Saudi prince? I know that’s what I’d do if I was. (I’m not.)

Reply to  Joel Snider
August 1, 2015 1:23 am

@ Joel, “they’re all baking in the sun and I’m sure it really sucks. A bit of a sweet irony.” in a way yep but hanging of that bridge for a few days in a fog bank and a relentless drizzle would make it even better.

highflight56433
Reply to  Joel Snider
August 2, 2015 6:46 pm

If I were the oil companies, I would quit shipping oil products to cities like Seattle and Portland who are so anti-fossil fuel. Give them a few days without it and see who come crawling.

Larry
July 31, 2015 8:21 am

Why did they have to rescue them?
Sharks gotta eat same as worms.

July 31, 2015 8:25 am

If Shell Oil were an individual, they could get a restraining order against GreenPeace to cover all such harassment actions, which would trigger criminal charges immediately on the next violation. As it is, it seems to be the case that Shell has to take each action to court separately and get a judge to impose fines, which only start to apply if Green Peace continues the action. In other words, this stunt gets GreenPeace publicity and costs them nothing, while it costs Shell for the delay.
This is a guarantee that such actions will continue.
I’m curious if any attorneys can comment on this idea. It’s obviously not currently possible or Shell (along with everyone else) would have taken that route by now.

MarkW
Reply to  Alan Watt, Climate Denialist Level 7
August 1, 2015 8:26 am

Shell should have grounds for a civil lawsuit to recover damages after the fact. This goes double if they already have another court ordering criminal fines for the same action.

Bruce Cobb
July 31, 2015 8:46 am

These dopes-on-ropes just hate oil, for which they, personally have no use.
Oh, wait.

RWturner
July 31, 2015 9:00 am

Anyone in or near Portland? This would be a great time to feed the birds on this particular bridge. Sea gulls will eat a variety of things but this calls for stinky bait shrimp.

Reply to  RWturner
July 31, 2015 9:21 am

OHH that is just a nasty thought. That being said I would send money for the shrimp purchase to anyone willing to do this to them the next time, but you would have to film it we need some stress relief. 🙂

July 31, 2015 9:35 am

Wouldn’t it be interesting if some anti-activist group gathered up a bunch of mangled, rotting bird carcases from windfarms and dumped them in the lobby of GreenPeace headquarters? Would any MSM reporters cover the story? Would local authorities arrest them? Would the ACLU represent them?
Inquiring minds want to know.

Reply to  Alan Watt, Climate Denialist Level 7
July 31, 2015 4:35 pm

I’ve been wondering where to safely dispose of my burnt-out spiral light bulbs…

Gary Pearse
July 31, 2015 10:26 am

I think they should have attached a smooth cowling around the upper section of the superstructure so that the protesters would simply have slid around the sides of the departing ship. Or attached lines to pull them aside.

Alx
July 31, 2015 11:18 am

I might have some respect for the hanging and kayaking protesters if they used hemp rope, wooden kayaks and other natural materials in their prank.
But using primarily materials made from oil by-product for the their lame/brain scheme just demotes them from simple fools to hypocritical ignorant losers.

Pamela Gray
July 31, 2015 11:52 am

Lordy. Twits.

Harold
Reply to  Pamela Gray
August 1, 2015 12:02 pm

Yeah, they’d have eventually come down when their iPhone batteries died, and they couldn’t tweet any more.

BLACK PEARL
July 31, 2015 12:34 pm

To help pay the fines
Erect a Porta Loo where the ropes are attached and charge 10c a pee down the rope!

MikeH
July 31, 2015 1:00 pm

I say lower rotting chicken carcasses near them. Let them stew for a while with the sights and smells of rotting chicken. Not to mention the flies it would attract.
I did notice the above picture of them hanging from the structure by the ropes ( petro-chemical synthetic I would presume). Why not lash a cable at the top of their rope and use a winch to pull them up? If not onto the bridge, at least out of the way of the ship? Then I would have the captain take a sloooooooooow cruse under them and let them get a good whif of it’s exhaust…
Just say’n

July 31, 2015 1:32 pm

A bit of background .,…
One of the games the greens have been playing up here in AK for decades is the delay, delay, delay game. They apply it against roads, bridges, tunnels, mines, literally any and everything possible to build (other than wind turbines). Construction season is fairly short in most of the state, May thru Sept here in ANC. So they time their obstruction so as to force whoever is doing the project to kick the can down the road another year and hope simply grind down the project in an endless series of delays that the courts at all levels are more than happy granting them.
Shell is in much the same boat in the Chukchi, as its drilling window is only a couple months long. The drilling permit from the Obama regime required all sorts of spill containment stuff to be present, much of it unnecessary, on site at all times while drilling. The icebreaker was one of the required items. Delay it enough, and Shell can’t drill this summer, leaving the next 10 months for the green lawyers to continue their lawfare effort against the permit.
Rumor up here on the Chukchi is that Shell thinks there is a LOT of oil up there. WIlder speculation suggests it is perhaps as much as Prudhoe. They spent billions already in exploration and don’t seem ready to pull back. Cheers –

Dan Murphy
Reply to  agimarc
July 31, 2015 5:29 pm

Marc, as I have said several times above, my guess for a while has been that these type of NGOs (GP, Sierra, WWF, etc.) are getting funded by our competitors, especially the State competitors, such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, etc. I have no proof, but think about it. Isn’t that what you’d do if you were a Saudi prince? I know that’s what I’d do if I was. (I’m not.)
I’m done with the repetitive comments. Dan

Reply to  Dan Murphy
August 1, 2015 1:30 am

@ Dan, there is a lot of proof that those entities are funding the NGO’s, I guess source it on the net, the info is there, I’ll try to connect over the next little while but it has been noted before on WUWT and even in the news.

July 31, 2015 1:45 pm

Any experienced mariner knows that you do not get in the way of commercial vessels. That ship could have just as well run into the hanging idiots. They placed themselves in harms way, so why not fulfill their wishes. They asked for it

brians356
Reply to  higley7
July 31, 2015 1:53 pm

Not unlike the heroic chap who laid down in front of a slow-moving ammunition train leaving Oakland and lost both legs for his trouble. He figured for sure they’d stop. “He chose poorly.”

July 31, 2015 2:16 pm

Suck it, Greenpeace.

MarkW
July 31, 2015 2:55 pm

I hope the get billed for the cost of the coast guard and firefighters who were needed to clear their illegal demonstration.

July 31, 2015 4:38 pm

He subsequently sued the railroad and lost. The judge ruled he didn’t have a leg to stand on.

Reply to  jorgekafkazar
August 1, 2015 1:31 am

+1

Steve in SC
July 31, 2015 5:56 pm

Need to pour boiling oil down the ropes on these morons. If they drop fine. If they don’t drop too bad for them.

gordonfulks
July 31, 2015 6:09 pm

Although our local politicians (Including US Senator Jeff Merkley, US Representative Earl Blumenauer, and Portland Mayor Charlie Hales) cheered on these protesters , the police and Coast Guard saw this stunt for what it was: an unlawful attempt to block commerce. That is a hopeful sign that we will finally step back from mob rule and may return to the rule of law here in Portland, despite pandering politicians. The longer that such protestors get their way, the more such stunts they will pull and the more damage they will cause to civil society.
It was hugely helpful and long overdue for a judge in Alaska to impose stiff fines on Greenpeace for their continual contempt.
My thanks to all who stood up to the anarchists, this time at least.

Elbee
July 31, 2015 6:29 pm

Greenpeace morons!

Yirgach
July 31, 2015 6:47 pm
Reply to  Yirgach
August 1, 2015 1:37 am

Looking at those windmills behind them? I almost wish these people had wings!

Yirgach
July 31, 2015 6:51 pm

And if there were unlimited free energy available, then what?

August 1, 2015 12:42 am

And if there were unlimited free energy available, then what?/i>
The we would find something else to fight about.

Dudley Horscroft
August 1, 2015 7:45 am

Greenpeace morons took over a decommissioned Shell drilling rig from the North Sea, alleging that there was plenty of oil on it and also toxic materials. This held up the singing of the rig for a long time, until eventually an independent inspection occurred. A small [amount] of oil and no toxic materials. Unfortunately they were not [held] to account.
Greenpeace have been harassing Japanese whalers, and eventually some climbed aboard the mother ship. Promptly arrested by the crew, and taken to Japan. There was every likely hood that they would be charged with piracy and imprisoned for years, but unfortunately the Australian Government managed to do a deal with Japan and they were released.
They tried the same thing with a Russian drill rig, and were arrested and carted off to gaol. Unfortunately they were eventually let go, but it was a close thing. Should have got about three years in a Russian gaol.
Please, before quoting what I have written, check the details VERY carefully. I believe my memory is correct, BUT, it is late at night and it does not work so well after midnight!

August 1, 2015 4:02 pm

An article of mine was published on this site. It began “Unlike many readers of this site, I have environmentalist sympathies”. Many commenters told me I was wrong. The comments above tend to confirm my analysis of the readership of wattsupwiththat.com. The article also led to a debate about the definition of “terrorism”. Some of the comments above are even more retarded, claiming that hanging from a bridge, obstructing a ship, is comparable with crashing planes into buildings.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/03/09/a-review-of-craig-rosebraughs-documentary-greedy-lying-bastards/

Scott M
August 1, 2015 6:27 pm

Its a start, you dont see them protesting in Russia anymore….