Why is Charlotte Church Serenading Shell?

Charlotte Church is one of the UK’s sassiest songstresses and now, she’s using her stardom for the greater good. In an effort to halt Shell’s hugely controversial Arctic drilling expeditions Church has teamed up with Greenpeace and staged a high profile serenade outside the company’s London HQ. The 29 year old singer took to a makeshift stage accompanied by a string quartet to perform a rendition of Dinah Washington's This Bitter Earth.  

Church teams up with Greenpeace

The edgy act was part of a month long Greenpeace demonstration that sees eco warriors protest outside Shell’s offices on a daily basis. Speaking to the media, Church explained that she was aiming to touch the hearts of Shell employees in the hope that it would encourage them to question and ultimately challenge the actions of the oil goliath.

“I just think it affects us all on the entire planet and for my children, for the generations to come I just think that what is happening at the moment is so exploitative and it is so... nonsensical that I just wanted to be a part of it and get involved and hopefully use my voice to help raise the profile,” she explains to the press.

The sounds of dissent

The performance comes in the wake of Shell receiving official permits allowing it to commence drilling in the Arctic Ocean. While Shell sees it as a wildly lucrative expedition, Greenpeace maintains that the risk of a spill is almost certain. When it inevitably occurs environmentalists uphold that an effective clean up would be virtually impossible. For the wildlife and native people of the Arctic, the consequences would be disastrous.

A star studded opposition

Thankfully pressure is mounting on Shell to reconsider as celebrities such as Church take a stand. Over the summer a myriad of other public figures joined the fight, including Peter Capaldi, John Hurt, Maisie Williams, Al Gore, Hilary Clinton and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Of course, Shell was quick to defend its actions, with a spokesman accusing Greenpeace of pulling “publicity stunts” rather than “engage constructively in the debate about how to meet the world’s growing demand for energy while reducing CO2 emissions.”

“We believe we can play an important role in developing the Arctic’s energy resources. We choose to explore there because we have the expertise and experience to operate responsibly and be profitable at the same time,” adds the spokesman.

Drilling is a hugely controversial topic, as well as a highly sophisticated arena. Particle Size Analysis for Drilling in Petroleum Industry examines the major problems of the trio of mud systems used to cool and lubricate drilling tools, attack rock, clean out voids and carry away pieces of crushed rock.

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