 …in the long term, what the industry has affected is not increased security via Canadian oil to the gulf coast, but a concentration of the nation’s refining capacity in the heart of the nation’s hurricane corridor. The lessons of 2005 have clearly not been heeded. Pennsylvania labor activists marched on Capitol Hill yesterday in protest … Read More
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Climate Sceptics Exposed
It was not probably the Valentine’s present the leading climate sceptic organisation, the Heartland Institute, was expecting. But after years of exploiting ClimateGate and leaks from climate scientists, yesterday they were on the receiving end of their very own leak. The climate denial watch-dog, DeSmogBlog, was leaked details of Heartland’s strategy and funding documents exposing … Read More
Over 600,000 Say No to KXL
Once again it is the many versus the money. Starting at noon yesterday, a coalition of thirty or so environmental organisations, including Oil Change International (OCI) and 350.org set out to gather at least 500,000 signatures with 24 hours to stop the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. The initiative came as a response to moves within … Read More
The Hidden Danger of the Gas Boom
The hype surrounding the US gas industry continues to grow as America moves ever closer to its cherished dream of energy independence. Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that “the U.S. is the closest it has been in almost 20 years to achieving energy self-sufficiency, a goal the nation has been pursuing since the 1973 Arab oil embargo … Read More
Oil Industry Profits: The big, the bad and the subsidized
Sources: Compiled from the quarterly results of each company, publicly available on the investor pages of each company’s websites. $135 billion Not the 2010 GDP of Hungary or Kuwait, no it’s slightly more than either of those. In fact, if it was a figure for the 2010 GDP of a nation, it would rank … Read More
Tar Sands Monitoring is “To Boost Reputation”
Late last week the Albertan and Canadian federal governments announced a new monitoring programme for the controversial tar sands. The Canadian press are reporting this as the two governments listening to their critics and restoring badly needed credibility. The Ottawa Citizen reports this morning that it “is a positive step toward restoring Canadian credibility on … Read More
Arctic “should remain off-limits to drilling”
For a long time now many environmental organisations and front-line communities have warned about the dangers of drilling in the Arctic. Even before the Exxon Valdez scarred Alaska in 1989 people warned that drilling in the high north can have terrible consequences. And there was one major lesson from the Exxon Valdez: oil is much … Read More
Keystone XL Becoming Key Election Issue
November may still seem a long way off, but increasingly it is looking like the the controversial Keystone XL pipeline is going to become a key Presidential election issue. David Wilkins, who was George Bush’s ambassador to Canada from 2005 to 2009, is one of the many people who think this is the case. “It’s … Read More
EU: Fracking Laws Are Adequate, For Now
In a decision that will both dismay and worry environmental campaigners and communities facing fracking across Europe, the European commission has concluded that existing laws are adequate to cover the controversial drilling technique. A new report undertaken for the Commission by the Belgian law firm Philippe & Partners, argues that there is no need for … Read More
End “the Century of Subsidy”? Maybe next year…
Slowly but surely the battle lines are being drawn for the upcoming Presidential election. President Obama built his State of the Union address on one of fairness. In doing so Obama reminded Americans that there is a clear choice when it comes to the next election. There is also a choice with energy. Before we … Read More