Activists Board Shell Drillship in NZ

Actor Lucy Lawless and Greenpeace activist Vivienne Hadlow are greeted by Greenpeace New Zealand's Executive Director Bunny McDiarmid (L) outside New Plymouth's central police station, after their release on bail on charges relating to their 77-hour occupation of the Noble Discoverer. The Shell contracted drillship is heading to the Arctic to start drilling for oil. Shell is positioning itself to be at the head of an oil-rush into the Arctic, in expectation that climate change will continue to drive up the average Arctic summer ice melt, and so make drilling in the region easier. Oil spills are virtually impossible to clean up in Arctic conditions.