A new report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) draws attention to the fact that rich countries are increasingly using aid money to advance their energy interests in Africa. The report argues that: “There are very clear signals that security concerns and energy politics are again shaping the policy debates on … Read More
Author: Andy Rowell
The Green Virgin or Green Conman?
Sir Richard Branson, the head of the Virgin group of companies, yesterday committed $3bn to “tackle” climate change. The billionaire pledged all profits from his Virgin air and rail interests over the next 10 years to combating rising global temperatures. However, the money will not go to charities but be invested in a new branch … Read More
Russians Fight Foreign Oil Multinationals
Over $70 billion dollars worth of Russian oil and gas licences could become part of a legal dispute between Russia and a group of oil multinationals. There have been press reports that a spokesperson for the Russian Natural Resources Ministry, said that the Russian Government was considering withdrawing the licence for ExxonMobil’s Sakhalin I offshore … Read More
Exxon: We Are Not Climate Sceptics
Here’s one to make you laugh or cry. For years, Exxon or Exxonsarous as it is sometimes known, has been the vanguard of the climate septics. It has funded some 40 right wing think tanks and front groups in an attempt to derail action on climate change. It has had undue influence at the White … Read More
California Sues Car Firms for Global Warming
The times really are a’ changing. The state of California has launched an unprecedented lawsuit against the six largest carmakers in the US for allegedly contributing to global warming. The state has accused Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Chrysler and Nissan of creating a “public nuisance” and costing it millions of dollars. Environmental campaigners have … Read More
Royal Society Tells Exxon: Stop Funding Climate Sceptics
Britain’s leading scientific body, the Royal Society, has challenged ExxonMobil to stop funding climate sceptics who are attempting to undermine the scientific consensus on global warming. In an unprecedented step, the Royal Society, demands in its letter that the company withdraws support for dozens of groups that have “misrepresented the science of climate change by … Read More
Sea levels Rising Faster Than Predicted
Professor Chris Rapley, director of the British Antarctic Survey, has warned that sea-level rise is increasing much faster than scientists predicted just five years ago. This is severely threatening many of the world’s coastal and low-lying areas from Bangladesh to Nigeria. The present prediction of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, from its third … Read More
The Price of Fear in your Gas Tank
Ever wondered how much of the oil price is pure hype or fear? Well there is an interesting article in today’s New York Times, which quotes Michael Rose, the director of the energy trading desk at Angus Jackson in Fort Lauderdale, Florida who says that “Crude is coming down because it was way too high,” … Read More
OPEC Worries Over Climate Change
As climate change moves up the political agenda, with even rumours that President Bush is going to make an a massive U-turn on the subject, another bastion of sceptics is starting to worry about the subject – OPEC.At a recent OPEC conference in Vienna, Claude Mandil, executive director of the International Energy Agency told OPEC … Read More
Huge Potential in Renewables
Renewable energy provides just over 6 percent of total U.S. energy, but that figure could increase rapidly, according to a new report by the Worldwatch Institute and the Center for American Progress, “American Energy: The Renewable Path to Energy Security.”