Judge rules Greenpeace will be fined $2500 an hour if protest

A Shell Oil icebreaker is heading for a showdown with environmental activists dangling from Portland, Oregon’s tallest bridge.

A passing barge honked its horn and the Coast Guard blared a warning as the Fennica icebreaker approached a group of protesters at the St. Johns Bridge.

The 380-foot-long icebreaker came to Portland for fix of a 39-inch gash in its hull, after hitting an uncharted shoal in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

Greenpeace spokeswoman Cassady Sharp said the people on the St. Johns Bridge over the Willamette River would leave peacefully if they thought they were in danger.

A small crowd of protesters not associated with Greenpeace was on the St. Johns end of the bridge and some were yelling at police.

Haynes says the Coast Guard’s been running point on response to the protest, and that Portland police will help dismantle the thing if called upon. Then Portland Fire Bureau technical rescue teams moved in, with a few firefighters going over the bridge’s edge and asking the protesters to voluntarily ease themselves down to waiting boats.

Judge Gleason slapped Greenpeace with stiff fines if its demonstrators continue efforts to blockade or delay its departure from the Rose City. The icebreaker, which is a vital part o…

Deadly confrontations involving police officers and African-American men have left a number of leaders and activists visiting South Florida for the National Urban League Convention feeling concerned about the current state of civil rights across the country.

The demonstrators had been trying to stop the vessel from leaving dry dock and making its way along the Willamette River toward the Pacific Ocean. “We remain committed to operating safely and responsibly and adding to Shell’s long history of exploration offshore Alaska”. It would jump to $5,000 an hour on Friday, $7,500 an hour on Saturday, and $10,000 an hour on Sunday.

What’s a multibillion-dollar energy giant to do when 13 mean activists in hammocks block its ship from pressing Arctic plunder? On Thursday morning, the daring protest had at least a temporary result as the Fennica pivoted and turned back upstream. In the time before things thawed next year, protesters hoped for political change in Washington, D.C. They say that will add to a global warming problem that has hit the Arctic hard by reducing sea ice, a habitat critical to polar bears and walrus.

“I was pretty much in tears”, she said, voicing concern for the climbers dangling below. Other protesters, nicknamed “kayaktivists”, have also joined Greenpeace by taking to the water below in kayaks.

Members of the group Greenpeace have set up a human barricade at the St. Johns Bridge, hoping to prevent a Shell Oil icebreaker from leaving port. It was reopened shortly after the icebreaker reversed course. The northern Alaska coastline lacks deep-water ports, major airports and basic infrastructure such as hotel accommodations for spill responders.