December | 2011 | The Price of Oil

Posts in December 2011

Sun Sets on BP’s Solar Business
Andy Rowell
Dec22
Just over a decade after BP rebranded itself “Beyond Petroleum” and introduced its famous sunburst Helios logo in honour of a Greek sun god, the oil giant has fatally undermined its “green” credentials by axing its solar power business. BP argues that it “can’t make any money” from selling panels at a time when it…
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Canada can try and sell tar sands to China, but a pig’s still a pig
Andy Rowell
Dec20
Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper threw down the gauntlet yesterday to anti-Keystone XL campaigners when he said Canada would sell its oil to China and other overseas markets if the controversial pipeline does not get approval. In his year-end TV interview, Harper said: “I am very serious about selling our oil off this continent, selling…
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UK Arts Institutions Renew BP Sponsorship
Andy Rowell
Dec19
There was widespread anger and dismay today from anti-oil campaigners after it was revealed that four of the Britain’s biggest cultural organisations – the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Opera House and Tate – were going to renew their sponsorship deals with BP worth £10m over five years. All four institutions have…
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Mitch McConnell Stands Up for Big Oil, Holding Middle Class Tax Cuts Hostage
Steve Kretzmann
Dec16
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced today that he will hold the extension of middle class tax cuts hostage unless an unrelated provision about the Keystone XL oil pipeline project is included—a major handout to his Big Oil donors that could leave millions of Americans facing a tax increase in the new year. So,…
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“Gas & Oil Party” passes Keystone XL poison pill
Steve Kretzmann
Dec14
Yesterday, Republicans and a few Democrats defied a veto threat from President Obama and passed a bill extending a cut in Social Security payroll taxes which also would fast track a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline and give polluters a variety of other gifts. Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, said the Republicans…
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Methane Leaks Alarm Scientists
Andy Rowell
Dec14
In the fallout from the Durban conference, one of the debates I have heard is people debating what keeping warming to 2 degrees means, rather than letting warming increase to 3 degrees or even 4 degrees. One of the answers was that if warming goes above 2 degrees the chances of a runaway greenhouse effect…
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Tar sands have trouble ‘getting to market’ – new report
Lorne Stockman
Dec13
Our latest report, Getting to Market: Emerging Investor Risks in the Tar Sands highlights the latest challenge facing the tar sands industry and warns investors to look more critically at industry’s ambitious claims. Download the full report Tar sands extraction projects are moving forward with increasing pace. The industry ambition is to grow production from…
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“Dirty” Canada Dumps Kyoto Protocol
Andy Rowell
Dec13
Finally the pretence is over. For years Canada said it cared about climate change at the same time as developing one of the most dirty fuels on the planet, the tar sands. But we knew it was a lie. For years Canada has told European politicians that it is committed to greenhouse gas reductions in…
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Picking over the “Corpse” of the Durban Deal
Andy Rowell
Dec12
The good news is that against all the odds, the Durban climate conference produced a deal. To some the deal is seen as historic, but to many it is once again far too little. But first let’s look at the good news. Many delegates were really pleased after their marathon negotiating session that they had…
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“Time to Leave ‘Fossil’ Canada Behind”
Andy Rowell
Dec08
As Canada continues to push its pro-tar sands message out across North America, Europe, Asia, it was greeted by protests at the COP17 Climate talks in South Africa. Yesterday members of the Canadian Youth Delegation were ejected from the meeting as Canada’s Environment Minister Peter Kent delivered his opening address. Just as Kent began his…
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