unfortunately, this type of radical action against Shell and other oil companies is absolutely necessary. this type of action will hopefully also make a couple of people that are driving cars alone back and forth to work, to stop and think about the larger implications of that. of course most people will just be angry at GP and rant about their 'right to drive', how life is sooo hard without the car, oh my god, blah blah blah.
Good for Greenpeace, good action, thank you. More please.

These GreenPeace people are just ridiculous.

I'm glad to hear that they got arrested.

Its not very "peaceful" to padlock tanking stations and disrupt normal peoples lives.

'but we are worried the safety of our customer and staff may be compromised by this sort of campaign.'

We are worried about the safty of all humans animals and wildlife that are compromised by the illegal campaigns that shell spearhead.

Greenpeace does a lot of good, but these immature actions turn many people away from supporting them. This is vandalism and endangering lives of the public. I wonder if the Greenpeace members think up these actions whilst they sit in their centrally heated homes, eating food cooked on their gas stove, and using electricity for their internet connections. Greenpeace needs only to ask the public to try and cut their energy consumption by 10% to help the polar bears, and people will do it. PS: The latest research shows that global warming is predominantly run by sun cycles.

That's the way ! We can not just sit there and watch them destroy the planet for their selfish short term profit.

I prefer order to chaos thank you. Charge the activists to the fullest extent the law allows; put them all on the no-fly list too.

Greenpeace are just vandals.

And, yes, driving - or better saying, using a personal transportation vehicle that takes you, sheltered from weather, fellow people and petty crime - is a right if you can pay for it.

For B.
... not so peaceful also pretend to have the right of wasting shared and limited resources at a price of worldwide health. We have to understand that we have to be responsible... well done GP, good that there is people open to be arrested also for your future mr./mss B.

I disagree that this is not a peaceful protest - no violence was involved, no people were hurt. It is a very bold statement by Greenpeace which is absolutely necessary and will make people aware of the severity of the situation. Some may argue that it is ridiculous and will be quick to condemn Greenpeace without considering what Shell are doing. To me it is ridiculous that Shell are allowed to start drilling the artic - after seeing the devastation left over by Shell in other parts of the world. I applaud this action by Greenpeace.

So then what did this actually change? What good did this actually do? Has it made any impact what so ever?

If GP wants to save the world thats fine by me, I think thats great. But do it then in a legal way.

Put their money rather into research, development, invest in land to save animals.

Tying yourself up to a tree or to a tank station is such a small and temporary (and illegal) action.

As others have said, there are far more ways for them to be effective rather than this.

Doing illegal things in the name of peace is just as wrong as what they accuse the big corporations like Shell of doing.

Shell, Exxon, Monsanto and BP they should all be treated as the criminal organisations they are, prosecute them for all the evil they are doing to humans, animals and nature. Burn them down if necessary, its time! good going greenies!!!

http://www.facebook.com/manshouldsurrender

Being bold is the only way to not be ignored. Go Greenpeace.

Being orderly and non-disruptive won't do anything except destroy your orderly and non-disruptive world sooner. Ah, but who cares after you're dead, right? I'm all right Jack...

@jaycee, most scientists have accepted the facts about man made greenhouse gas. What is wrong with central heating, gas cooking, and electricity? It is the source that matters. Electricity & gas from renewable sources like wind, solar & bio gas is promoted by GP. It is companies like Shell who block any change of the status quo, and keep drilling and drilling for quick profit.
Another fact; vandalism is the destruction of property, according to the article there was only disruption of a destructive business for a while. And no lives were put in danger; you are alarmist!!

To those criticizing Greenpeace -- for driving in cars, flying, for using electricity -- you clearly have NO idea what this protest is about. Educate yourself and get the facts.

Shell is drilling in the Arctic, and prospecting for oil in this FRAGILE ENVIRONMENT is not cool!

Thank you Greenpeace for the work you do!
www.savethearctic.org

Presumably most of the Greenpeace folk had to drive to the sites where they were protesting. Perhaps they took the opportunity to fill up their cars whilst at the pumps too...

I'd rather have oil from the Artic than from Saudi Arabia or Libya...

I think harming someone's business is very retarded and dangerous form of protest. Following the same logic Shell could spill gas around the Greenpeace HQ and set it on fire.

People that complain about their day being disrupted compared to the massive ecological harm that shell might cause clearly have their priorities mixed up or just have zero gratitude for the life this planet gives them on a day to day basis. wake up people, theres more to life than money, and greed is destroying our planet

I'm very very glad to see the broad support for Greenpeace in the majority here, gives me hope - thanks

Unless you attack the finance of these organizations your basically doing nothing.

We have to seriously reduce the use of fossil fuels ANYWAY in the future. Whether this happens in 5, 10 or 20 years makes a huge difference to how much 'collateral damage' happens in the mean time.
The crazy thing here is that we already have the alternative (say, electric cars fueled by renewables), they just have hard time competing with the heavily subsidised oil industry.
So yes, GP did a good job at least in raising attention.

It was quite an elegant action because it stopped sales of petrol without damaging a single piece of Shell's equipment. I was impressed. No burning of anything, no destruction of property. Nice.

What do you expect, anotheradrian? They're expats, chasing the money and status around the world...and afraid that change might affect their privileged lives...

Agreed, anotheradrian. People that complain about a temporary inconvenience would be screaming like shrews if there was a gusher in the North Sea that decimated "their" beaches and fishing industry. In the Arctic, a blunder like the one made by BP (and friends) in the Gulf of Mexico could be far worse as it would be difficult to fix, if at all. But of course the terminally near-sighted among us can only see a problem if it's dumped directly on "their" stoep.

Got mixed feelings about Greenpeace but this is a good one. Direct action achieves more than clicking like on a facebook page.

I'm all in favour of renewable energy but companies are there to make a profit. That's the nature of the capilatist system.

Some of the comments here are dangerous at there level of naivety or stupidity (have'nt yet decided). They are drilling in the Artic - where is the moral line that we should insiston being drawn. @jaycee - I am a paid up member of Greenpeace I have solar power but yes i use electricity and the internet, but i also compensate for that with other actions for my carbon footprint to be smaller and i make informed choices, including no more Shell.

I wonder how these activists live every day? Do they use shoes? Clothes? Bike? Watch TV? Read a book? All of these have at least a bit of oil derivate in it. Why hating the oil industry so much? Our lives are surrounded by oil derivates these days. Stop ridiculous protests and spend your time doing something good to the society!

I don't care if some polar bears or sea lions are being killed for our energy needs. As the masters of this Earth, we, humans, developed the ability to use any other form of life or resource to our betterment, comfort and needs.

Why is Greenpeace always so reversed?

When illegal actions are taken, like fishing whales where it's forbidden, Greenpeace is really careful, doing stuff like throwing stinky butter to people in the midst of even stinkier whale carcasses.

But (regardless of how much you disagree) when legal actions are taken, then everything's taken out of the closet suddenly.

Fighting illegal actions with legal actions is way too careful. But fighting legal actions with illegal actions is especially not the way to do things.

Do these people actually think that they are accomplishing anything?
where there is money to be made these giant corporations will do whatever they can to make it. Often with the full support of governments.
So greenpeace stopped a few sales so what? At the end of the day shell will drill and no amount of protests will have any real effect The activists can pat each other on the back and think they are making a difference but this is a foregone conclusion. Greed has already pushed this planet to the edge. Nothing will change this. It is self delusion to think otherwise.

"masters of this earth"?? WHAT?? Are you that conceited and short-sighted, Andre??

You are why activists such as Greenpeace exists. Do you think you'd be that smug and self-centred if the environmental and conservation movements hadn't started at least a generation ago?? The earth is not in good shape, but it's a helluva lot better than it would have been if people like you had your way without intervention.

You honestly believe that being a "master" won't backfire on your lifestyle eventually? Or your children and grandchildren?? Or do you not give a crap about them either??

I have a very different view: as a 'master of the earth' I feel responsible for the care and protection of all precious life on this planet and in order to fullfill that distingished duty (and honor) I realize that I must sometimes sacrifice my immediate comfort and pleasure. I'm grateful for these duties. To all the cynics on here - I do not own a car for almost 20 years (no problem), I use green energy and try to be aware of the products I use which contain or use petroleum. I'm not a saint, that's for damned sure - but I try, and I will continue trying to do my best.

CW: my advice is that you can better avoid this type of discussion and confrontation. The words in the comment you are addressing speak volumes about the commenter and the mind set of the commenter. Just let that be for what it is.