Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is said to be set for a show down after Democratic lawmakers unveiled legislation last week aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. The bill, backed by the Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and a whole host of environmental groups, sets firm limits on carbon dioxide emissions and goes further than recommendations made by Schwarzenegger's Climate Action Team. So Arnie is now fighting both oil companies and environmentalists on the issue. Who is going to win?

Given what we have been saying about BP on the site recently, it is amusing to read a a different angle from Thomas Borelli, the editor of FreeEnterpriser.com and a senior fellow at The National Center for Public Policy Research, about BP's advertising campaign.

A typically insightful piece from Anna Zalik and Michael Watts from the University of California on the deteriorating situation in the Niger Delta. Called "Imperial Oil: Petroleum Politics in the Nigerian Delta and the New Scramble for Africa", it is worthwhile reading if you are interested in the effect of US geo-politics on Africa. Read it here.

Great article from Business Week Magazine about how Exxon attacked Greenpeace through an organisation called Public Interest Watch. Although this was recently reported in the Wall Street Journal, what was not reported was the role of the shadowy PR firm called Dezenhall Resources, whom the article calls the "pit bull of PR".  If you want to know how low Exxon and it's pit bull will stoop to undermine its critics, you should read this revealing article..

For years oil analyst-turned whistleblower, Chuck Hamel, has been saying that the oil company operations in Alaska are a sham. He has become a conduit for whistleblowers working on the North Slope and for Alyeska -the joint pipeline company.

They have bought to him information concerning corrosion, quality assurance, health and safety and many other issues. Basically Hamel’s message has been that it is a disaster waiting to happen. The oil industry has routinely dismissed Hamel's concerns, but for how much longer?

Lloyd’s of London – the global insurers – recorded an annual loss of  £103 million before tax last year after a record £3.3 billion of hurricane-related insurance claims. But they are not alone: Insurers worldwide have been hit hard as a result of last year's devastating hurricanes Katrina and Rita, with total claims expected to reach about £50 billion.

Everyone knows that oil is a problem. In the fight against climate change, oil is seen as the chief villain. Gas, meanwhile, likes to portray itself as a clean fuel. But it is not.

BP is set to make a full recovery after last year's setback with Hurricane Katrina, and has just announced oil production of over 4 million barrels of oil a day in first quarter 2006.

Keen to market its latest gas-guzzler by the trick of online viral marketing, American car company Chevrolet introduced a Web site allowing visitors to take existing video clips and music, and then insert their own words to create a customised 30-second commercial for its 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe model.

The British comedian, Rob Newman, made his name back in the 1990s as part of the cult-series "The Mary Whitehouse Experience". Since then he has become increasing concerned about the politics of oil and climate change.
Next month on British TV, he returns with a one-off show "Robert Newman's History of Oil" in which he looks at oil as the source of global conflict, and the dangers of climate change. He was interviewed by the Guardian Unlimited - listen to him here.