Long time environmental campaigner and Climate Ground Zero founder Mike Roselle once worked in the oil industry, and later for Greenpeace before going on to help form Earth First. 

He has been observing Greenpeace's bridge hanging and kayak action blocking Shell Oil's fleet from leaving Portland. Recently, Greenpeace has been threatened with fines of $2500 per hout if they continue the action.

From his home in West Virginia where he is organizing resistance against mountain top temoval coal mining, he posted some observations on the action that explain it's importance:  

"Here we go. A few observations on todays momentous events. First, the action was as good as any I've seen in many years. Only Greenpeace could have done it. Another is that it now seems clear that Shell ordered the icebreaker to approach the bridge and retreat in order to get a contempt order in Federal court where an injunction is already in place. This is where it gets interesting. Shell was aware of the negitive media coverage that such a fake pass would generate. That they went ahead anyway tells me they were desperate an had no other options. But a word of caution. They have two drilling platforms in place and a permit to drill two holes. This is how it works. It is called spudding. They will drill one hole at a time down to 1,800 feet and instal surface casing. They will pump cement into the hole so it comes up on the outside of the casing and cements it to the formation. Then they instal the blowout preventer, and pressure the hole up and test it. They can do ALL of this without the icebreaker. The piece of equipment that the icebreaker is holding is basically a large version of the Liberty Bell and was of little use durring the Deepwater Horizon blowout. It failed its last test and was crushed like a beercan. Additionally, this project has been in the works for seven years, back when oil prices were in record territory. They are way overbudget on this project and don't expect to see any profit for years. Meinwhile Shell's stock is tanking a hit and they are loosing money evey day. So this is no time to let up. There is no better time to support Greenpeace. They are fighting for all of us."