Pollution | The Price of Oil

Posts in Pollution

$Freedom-fracking-protest$
“It’s a pie in the sky” number
Andy Rowell
Sep26
On Wednesday last week, the hype that has surrounding fracking in the US finally arrived in the UK. The energy firm Cuadrilla, which has been drilling wells in the North West of the country under Lancashire, announced a “huge find” of gas. Cuadrilla announced that that its tests showed there could be as much as…
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Gov Report into Deepwater “Spreads Blame”
Andy Rowell
Sep14
After numerous delays, and even the departure of a lead investigator, later today the US government is expected to release the report into last year’s Deepwater Horizon disaster that has been undertaken by the Coast Guard and the Agency responsible for regulating offshore drilling. According to the Wall Street Journal, the federal investigation into the…
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Comeback Kid Hayward Severs Final Link With BP
Andy Rowell
Sep12
Finally after 29 years, Tony Hayward, the former chief executive of BP, will sever all his ties with the oil giant. Although he resigned from being Chief Executive last year in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, Hayward has remained on board of its Russian joint venture, TNK-BP. But it has announced that he…
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Arctic Spill Would Be “Uncontrollable” Catastrophe
Andy Rowell
Sep06
Following up last week’s news about the tie up between Exxon and Rosneft and the dangers of Arctic drilling, today’s Independent runs a disturbing warning from a distinguished polar scientist about the dangers of a spill in the region. For a long time now, the environmental organisation Greenpeace has been shouting from the roof-tops about…
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“Very Close Match” Between New Spill And BP’s Well
Andy Rowell
Aug30
A renewed push for permits by oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico is being overshadowed by a row over whether BP’s capped Macondo well is actually leaking oil. If the well is somehow still leaking this would have major ramifications for BP, but also the wider industry that is gearing up for further drilling…
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$fracking_protest$
Will Europe Heed Warnings over Fracking?
Andy Rowell
Aug12
A recent report by the World Economic Forum on the future of the gas markets has highlighted the revolution that is currently happening in this sector. The report started by saying: “What a difference a few years can make in one of the world’s major energy markets. Advances in the production of unconventional gas –…
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From the Delta to the Sea
Andy Rowell
Aug08
Often in the 24 hour news world, stories are reported at such a rate that no one ever takes a step back to see if they are joined up. No one ever seems to ask searching questions to see if two different stories are connected and therefore what are the consequences of that connection. You…
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“The news that Shell accepts liability will be greeted with joy”
Andy Rowell
Aug03
The history of Shell in Nigeria is one of contempt for the locals, of systematic and chronic pollution and of a vortex of violence in which thousands have been killed, or tortured. The country remains a grubby stain on Shell’s iconic logo. The company has never apologised for its role in the death of Ken…
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Canada’s “Pipeline Through Paradise”
Andy Rowell
Jul25
One of the biggest problems for proponents of the tar sands (apart from frying the climate and polluting the local rivers and ripping up ancient boreal forests) is getting the dirty oil to hungry markets. The route south from Alberta to America and the refineries of the Gulf coast hinges on the controversial Keystone XL…
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“Cowboy” Cairn Gags Greenpeace
Andy Rowell
Jul20
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…
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