“Cowboy” Cairn Gags Greenpeace

July 20, 2011By Andy RowellBlog Post, Featured 3 Comments

One of the many ways in which powerful polluters try to silence their critics is through legal intimidation. And Cairn Energy, which is involved in controversial drilling in the Arctic, is no exception. For months Cairn has been dogged by Greenpeace, which has been campaigning against its Artic operations off Greenland. On Monday about 60 … Read More

Two More Oil Spills…

July 19, 2011By Andy RowellBlog Post, Featured 1 Comment

Just as BP slowly begins to rebuild its tarnished reputation, it has slipped up again. Not in a catastrophic company-threatening way  like it did last year but a much smaller spill, this time in Alaska. Although the amount spilt – some 2,100 to 4,200 gallons of fluid –  is infinitesimal compared to the Deepwater Horizon, … Read More

What if the Carbon Bubble Bursts?

July 13, 2011By Andy RowellBlog Post, Featured

For many years now, a number of activists and analysts have argued that if we are serious about tackling climate change then the reserves of oil and gas in the ground need to be seen as liabilities and not assets. At the moment an oil company is judged by investors by the strength and size … Read More

Now its Yellowstone To Keystone

July 8, 2011By Andy RowellBlog Post, Featured

You would have thought that Rupert Murdoch had enough on his plate right now without one of his paper’s backing the highly controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline in an editorial yesterday. Despite the deep controversy surrounding the specific project and the safety of pipelines in general, which have been reigntied by Exxon’s Yellowstone spill, … Read More

From Yellowstone to Blackstone

July 5, 2011By Andy RowellBlog Post, Featured

Stick the words Exxon and oil spill into the same sentence and of course people get vivid memories of the Exxon Valdez. Exxon’s latest spill on the Yellowstone river is tiny compared to what happened in Alaska, but  still some 1,000 barrels – or 42,000 gallons of oil – have reportedly been spilt from the … Read More

China To Start Fracking Too

July 4, 2011By Andy RowellBlog Post, Featured 2 Comments

What a difference a day makes. Last week, the FT’s “Energy Special” pull-out included an article on China’s potential for shale gas. The article quoted a recent report from the investment bank, Jefferies which said: “Unconventional gas is a dream come true for China’s energy policymakers,” but then the report added “China does not need … Read More