Seattle residents are up in arms about Shell’s reckless attempts to drill in the Arctic, and the Port of Seattle’s lease agreement to host Shell’s Arctic drilling fleet. Opponents include a former Seattle Mayor, city commissioners, and local environmental groups.
Big news broke in the last couple of days. Yesterday. the Puget Sound Business Journal reported in Business leaders, McGinn threaten lawsuit over $13M Shell Oil terminal lease that Moving Forward Network participant Earthjustice and other environmental groups plan to sue to force the port to cancel the lease.
This morning, the Seattle magazine The Stranger reported the sneaky back story of the public Port of Seattle negotiating secretly for months, with commissioners under a verbal nondisclosure agreement, back-door lobbying by business interests to sign the lease, and more. To learn more, see How Seattle Agreed to Stash a Climate Bomb in Its Seaport.
For background, check out the NRDC video below on Shell Oil Arctic drilling mishaps, and last week’s guest editorial in the Seattle Times by Sierra Club leader Dan Ritzman, Shell, the U.S. not prepared for risks of drilling in Arctic Ocean.