Not in West Seattle, but inspired by the two drilling rigs that have been at Harbor Island’s Vigor Shipyards:

Where & When: Weds 6/27 at 7 pm-8:30 pm at Piers 62/63 in downtown Seattle.

Led by Rick Harlan (with the Buddhist Peace Fellowship-Seattle), Denis Martynowych (Executive Director of the Co-Awakening Project), and Carlo Voli (local environmental activist), Seattle residents will come together this Wednesday evening for an outdoors public group meditation in support of the Arctic region as it faces profound risk from Shell’s reckless pursuit of oil and profits. We stand in solidarity with all of the area’s Native peoples, marine and land wildlife, and varied ecosystems, and we beseech political and business leaders worldwide to listen to the voices of concerned scientists and citizens everywhere and declare the fragile Arctic region an extraction-free, International Sanctuary, as has already been done for the Antarctic.

The group meditation will take place in view of Shell’s rigs, the Kulluk and the Noble Discoverer, now preparing to depart for the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. This area has been called the “nursery of the planet” for whales, seabirds, polar bears, and many other species.

The Arctic region is warming at a much faster rate than the rest of the planet and the Summer Arctic sea ice cover has been steadily decreasing year after year. It is this rapid diminishment that has made Arctic drilling viable and profitable enough that Shell was willing to spend 7 years and $4 billion pursuing it. They are using the effects of climate change to pursue activities that will intensify the effects of climate change.

In the face of such policies, we will gather together to collectively send positive and healing energy to the Arctic, and to affirm our concern and stand in support of a saner path—one that involves a transformation of our lives, communities, economies, and political institutions into ones which are sustainable, health-giving, and respectful of our need to share the planet’s abundance with the entire ecological web upon which our lives depend.