Lucy Lawless sentenced to community service for oil protest

The actress who brought "Xena: Warrior Princess" is fighting for Mother Earth, and paying a small price because of it.

In February of last year, Lucy Lawless engaged in a protest with other Greenpeace activists against Shell Oil drilling in the Arctic. The group spent several days on top of the drilling tower of the ship 'Noble Discoverer', where the actress blogged about the experience. The protest ended up delaying the operation and allegedly costing the oil corporation $545,000, which Shell sought to reclaim from the protestors.

However, the New Zealand judge overseeing the case deemed the price tag too high, instead ordering Lawless and the other activists to pay a small fine ($547 each) and complete 120 hours of community service.

Outside the Taranaki District Court, the actress issued a prepared statement in response to the verdict. "We are proud to have taken part in our attempt to stop Shell’s reckless plans to drill for oil in the pristine Arctic.
Since we occupied the Noble Discoverer, it has become evident to everyone watching, from the millions who have signed Greenpeace petitions, to the US Government, now examining Shell’s plans, that it can never be safe to drill in the Arctic," she said. "Shell’s Arctic programme has cost them billions and it’s now regarded as an eye-wateringly expensive failure. Let’s embrace clean energy; we’re going to have to anyway, so why not do it before they cause a major oil spill in the Arctic, and consign our grandchildren to an uncertain and dangerous world?"