Lucy has just tweeted about a protest she will be a part of against Shell’s Arctic oil drilling. The news is just coming through of Lucy taking part in a Greenpeace protest.
Today I’m taking direct action with GreenpeaceNZ in peaceful protest against Shell’s Arctic oil drilling #savethearctic
RT GreenpeaceNZ : BREAKING: @RealLucyLawless and five Greenpeace climbers have boarded an Arctic-bound @Shell oil drillship in Port Taranaki
Lucy Lawless boards oil drillship in protest
TVNZ 24 February 2012
Actress Lucy Lawless along with four other Greenpeace protesters have climbed a ship in the Port of Taranaki to protest drilling oil in the Arctic.
Greenpeace said around 7am the protestors climbed on a 53 metre drilling derrick on the ship Nobel Discoverer and have begun to unravel banners, reading "Stop Shell" and "#SaveTheArctic".
According to Greenpeace the ship is heading to the Arctic Circle to drill for oil for Shell off the coast of Alaska.
Lawless, famous for her role in Xena, and Greenpeace are equipped with survival gear and enough supplies to last for several days.
"Deep-sea oil drilling is bad enough, but venturing into the Arctic, one of the most magical places on the planet, is going too far. I don't want my kids to grow up in a world without these extraordinary places intact or where we ruin the habitat of polar bears for the last drops of oil," said Lawless.
"To see the melting of the sea ice not as a warning to humanity but as an invitation to drill for more of the stuff that caused the problem in the first place is the definition of madness. What Shell is doing is climate change-profiteering."
Greenpeace claims Shell is the first major international oil company to make the exploitation of the Arctic a key part of their strategy.
"If the Noble Discoverer strikes oil this summer, other global oil giants may quickly follow, sparking an Arctic oil rush," Greenpeace said