GreenpeaceGiven the global political, economic, and corporate forces involved in drilling for oil in the Arctic it is… cute that 13 Greenpeace activists and a “coalition of kayaks” think they can effect meaningful change.

Yesterday, Greenpeace choked off the shipping channel on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon to stop Royal Dutch Shell from getting one of their ships, the MSV Fennica,  to the Arctic for drilling operations. A number of activists dangled themselves off of the St. Johns Bridge, while locals formed a flotilla of kayaks to block passage. After two hours, the ship turned around and Greenpeace claimed victory.

Greenpeace thinks the tactic will be effective because of a quirk in the law that requires equpiment loaded aboard the Fennica. Courthouse News Reports:

The Fennica is one of Shell’s two main icebreakers in the Arctic. But it also carries a piece of equipment called a “capping stack,” which it would use to stop gushing oil in the event of a blowout. The Obama administration required the presence of such equipment for Shell to begin drilling.

I’ve written about this regulation before, and how the law seems almost purposefully designed to make no one happy. Delaying Shell is a legitimate tactic here because the government has given Shell a relatively short window for their drilling operations. It might not feel like it now, but Summer is almost over at the North Pole.

But physical resistance rarely leads to lasting policy change. Shell has already spent billions of dollars to secure the opportunity to drill in the Arctic. They’re not going to give up because some crunchy protesters are hanging off of a bridge. The Obama administration has had every opportunity to stop Shell from doing this, but instead they’ve tried to work with the company. We, evidently, have to wait for Hillary to be elected before she’ll tell us what she’s going to do. And if a Republican wins you can best believe that Shell will get the authority to drill through any protesters dangling in their way.

Look, this is a nice little victory for Greenpeace. Sometimes, delaying tactics work. But here’s the story: I was clipping my hedges this weekend, and I angered a number of wasps. They didn’t sting me, but they were annoying. Eventually I gave up. Wasps win!

This weekend, I’ve hired a landscaping company.

[Also on Breaking Energy: Arctic Drilling Regulation Somehow Bad For Shell, Environmentalists, And Walruses]