Thirty Greenpeace activists are currently being detained in Russian on charges of piracy, which carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
In any dispute there are always two sides. On one side you have the safety and security of employee’s working on oil platforms and then you have the rights for environmental campaigners to express their concern about protecting planet Earth.
The irony of this situation is with the burning of fossil furls mankind has contributed to climate change resulting in melting icecaps and creating an opportunity to access the natural resources of one of the few remaining untouched regions of our planet; The Arctic.
I guess the burning questions we have to ask ourselves are, how do we feel about using hydrocarbons drilled from the arctic?
Shell and Gazprom have agreed to the exploration and development of hydrocarbons in the Arctic. The Russian state is the majority shareholder in Gazprom, which owns the entire infrastructure and sole means to supply gas to domestic and export markets.
How does any of this relate to the Golf Industry? Shell is sponsors of the PGA tour event called The Houston Shell Open. Plus let us not forget that polyester apparel, which is worn by the vast majority of golfers, is a 'plastic' product derived from hydrocarbons.
Please let us know if you would be prepared to play with a golf ball which supported the actions of Greenpeace in trying to save the unspoiled arctic region from the environmental damage caused by drilling for hydrocarbons?
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