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Protests against Arctic drilling began in Seattle in 2015 in response to the news that the Port of Seattle authority made an agreement with Royal Dutch Shell to berth offshore drillships and semi-submersibles at the Port's Terminal 5 (T5) during the off-season of oil exploration in Alaskan waters of the Arctic.〔〔 Hundreds of protesters took to Elliott Bay in kayaks, rafts, and other small boats, both as a demonstration and to interrupt docking of Shell's ''Polar Pioneer'' semi-submersible drilling vessel at Terminal 5.〔 The waterborne demonstrators were dubbed kayaktivists by social and news media.〔 On September 27, 2015 Shell announced that their exploration in the summer of 2015 was "disappointing" and that they would abandon further oil exploration in the Arctic "for the foreseeable future".〔 ==Historical background== Seattle has been a staging point for those seeking to exploit the natural resources of the Alaska region since the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896, when the city was the main supply center and departure point for prospectors heading to the gold fields of Alaska and the Yukon. The perception by some Alaskans that Seattle exerted undue influence on the Territory helped motivate their desire for Alaskan statehood, achieved in 1958. Since the discovery of oil in Prudhoe Bay in 1968, Seattle has played an integral role in the Alaska petroleum industry.〔 The city of Seattle says the maritime sector which includes ship builders, cargo vessels and tug companies comprises 22,000 jobs for a $2.1 billion annual contribution to the Seattle economy.〔 Seattle is known for environmentalism.〔 A theme of the 1999 Seattle WTO protests was the reconciliation of the labor and environmental movements under the slogan "Teamsters and Turtles: Together at Last", seeking to end the traditional stalemate of job creation pitted against environmental protection in a zero sum conflict.〔 In the summer 2012, Shell refurbished the ''Kulluk'' and the ''Noble Discoverer'' drillships in Seattle, which the company said employed 400 shipyard workers and put $200 million into the local economy.〔 The ships were for use in exploration for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off Alaska's North Coast, which if successful could begin production no sooner than 2023.〔 Greenpeace opposed these plans, and some Iñupiat people of the North Slope said that in spite of the economic benefits to them, they feared damage to the ocean environment they depend on for food.〔 A Barrow, Alaska village organization director said, "We are opposed to offshore development because the ocean is like our garden up here in the Arctic for our subsistence way of life."〔 The ''Kulluk'' ran aground in January 2013 and had to be rescued, resulting in the US Department of the Interior ordering Shell to halt drilling until safety problems were corrected.〔 Shell was criticized in an Interior Department report, which cited inadequate supervision of subcontractors by Shell's management, and a lack of preparedness for the Arctic conditions.〔 New regulations were written by the Department, and drilling was restricted to shallower waters, up to deep, and to summer months only, and stricter rules on blowout preventers were put in place.〔 Environmentalists and oil industry experts agree the area is one of the most dangerous areas in the world to drill, because besides rough seas including waves, storms, and cold weather, the cleanup and rescue is made harder by a lack of any roads to major cities and no deepwater ports within hundreds of miles, with the closest Coast Guard station capable of assisting in an oil spill located away.〔 Bowhead whales and walruses migrate through the area, and the Iñupiat fear an oil spill could damage both their whaling-based culture and livelihood.〔〔 A statement from the Interior Department said they were taking a "thoughtful approach" in balancing environmental and safety concerns, and respect for the traditions of indigenous people.〔 Susan Murray of the environmental group Oceana said, "Shell has not shown that it is prepared to operate responsibly in the Arctic Ocean, and neither the company nor our government has been willing to fully and fairly evaluate the risks of Shell's proposal."〔 Shell's Alaska vice president Pete Slaiby said its goal was not, "any kind of grand energy independence", but rather that, "This is all about energy choice," so that the US could replace oil imports from hostile foreign regimes with domestic production.〔 Shell says the Arctic holds about 30% of the undiscovered oil and gas in the world, and exploiting it is necessary to satisfy growing world demand, though US domestic petroleum production is booming in 2015, due mainly to fracking in Texas and North Dakota, and oil prices are falling.〔 At current rates the goal of US energy independence, oil exports exceeding imports, could be reached by 2030, according to the US Energy Information Administration.〔 This turning point could come sooner with greatly increased Arctic oil production.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Seattle Arctic drilling protests」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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