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Posts in January 2008

• French Court Fines Total for 1999 Spill

  Andy Rowell

  Jan17

  In a ruling that could set a precedent for responsibility in maritime pollution, a French court ruled yesterday that the oil company Total was partly liable for the vast spill in 1999 from the tanker Erika, that blackened the Brittany coast with fuel oil even though the company did not own the ship. The court…
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• Climate Change Having A “Big” Impact on UK Coasts

  Andy Rowell

  Jan17

  Climate change is having a major impact on Britain’s coast, the seas around the coast, and the life in those seas, a government-sponsored report has concluded. The Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) says seas are becoming more violent, causing coastal erosion and a higher risk of flooding. Higher CO2 levels in the atmosphere are…
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• A young fisherman kills himself in despair…

  Andy Rowell

  Jan16

  The world’s media may have moved on for the site of another oil spill, and the beaches may be clean on the surface, but a month after South Korea’s worst oil spill, residents are struggling to pick up their shattered lives. Last week a young fisherman Lee Young-kwon killed himself by drinking pesticide in despair…
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• Greenland Ice Melting at Unprecedented Rate Too

  Andy Rowell

  Jan16

  Just days after the revelation that Antarctica is melting faster than predicted (See blog), comes news that the Greenland ice sheet is also shrinking fast. Last summer Greenland’s ice sheet melted more than at anytime in the last 50 years, international glaciologists and climatologists report today in the Journal of Climate.

• Business Plays the Job Card

  Andy Rowell

  Jan16

  The scare-mongering over climate continues. Instead of seeing climate change as a business opportunity, employers and trade unions see it as a threat. The European Trade Union Confederation is warning that to 50,000 steelworkers’ jobs could go if their industry moves to areas with lower costs for polluters. And lobby group BusinessEurope says companies will…
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• US Congress says no to tar sands (quietly)

  Steve Kretzmann

  Jan15

  Here’s one that somebody missed. Apparently Section 526 of the Energy Bill signed into law by Bush less than a month ago stated that the U.S. government would not purchase transportation fuel from nonconventional petroleum sources that have higher life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions from production and combustion than equivalent conventional fuel. That means that the…
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• SEC Re-examines Oil Sands Reserves

  Andy Rowell

  Jan15

  Interesting move this one, which could far-reaching implications for both the oil majors and the climate as it could make it easier for people to invest in oil sands. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at putting Alberta’s oil sands reserves on the same footing as conventional crude oil.

• Biofuels “No Silver Bullet”

  Andy Rowell

  Jan15

  Biofuels have a limited ability to replace fossil fuels and should not be regarded as a “silver bullet” solution to reducing transport emissions, British scientists have warned. The report by Britain’s Royal Society warned that biofuels risk failing to deliver significant reductions in transport emissions and could even be environmentally damaging unless the government implements…
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• Kurds Continue to Expand Oil Industry

  Andy Rowell

  Jan15

  The row between the Kurds and Southern Iraq over is oil reserves and development of the oil industry (see yesterday’s blog) looks set to intensify. The Kurds are negotiating with two Canadian firms on a joint venture to construct an oil refinery and continue work on a second one to boost its fledgling oil industry.

• Loss of Antarctic Ice Increased 75% in 10 years

  Andy Rowell

  Jan14

  Parts of the ice sheets covering Antarctica are melting faster than predicted, with the net loss of ice accelerating in because of climate change. A satellite survey between 1996 and 2006 found that the net loss of ice from Antarctica rose by about 75 per cent as the movement of glaciers towards the sea speeded…
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