Those Representatives voting in favor of the inclusion of the Keystone XL pipeline in a transportation bill currently being negotiated by both chambers have taken over 11 times more money from Big Oil during this Congress – almost $6 million – than those opposed.
Featured
Irrational Exemption: Tar sands pipeline subsidies and why they must end
This briefing finds that the transport of tar sands oil through pipelines in the United States is exempt from payments into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, which creates a free ride worth over $375 million to tar sands oil producers between 2010 and 2017.
Koch-ing the Climate: Exploiting the Tar Sands
Last week, the god-father of climate science, James Hansen, who directs the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, re-iterated his warning about exploiting the tar sands in an op-ed in the New York Times. His warning was dire: “Canada’s tar sands contain twice the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by global oil use in our … Read More
Shell in Nigeria: Its Worse than Bad
And so it goes on. It might be a different day but the ongoing vortex of violence, pollution, protest and conflict continues in the Niger Delta. The oil giant, Shell is at the middle of this vortex, as it has been for decades, with the company unwilling to take adequate steps to stop the violence … Read More
Sponsors Dump Heartland After Ad Backfires
Last Friday, the long-standing climate denier think tank, the Heartland Institute ran an advert featuring the Unabomber on a billboard in Chicago that read “I still believe in Global Warming? Do you?” The Unabomber advert was going to be followed by images of Fidel Castro, Osama Bin Laden, and hostage-taker James J. Lee. According to … Read More
Scientific Study Warns Fracking Can Contaminate Aquifers
Sorry to hark on about this – but proponents of fracking keep on saying it is a precise science that is safe, which will not contaminate water supplies. But we know that is not true. We also know the technique is still essentially in its infancy and the science and detailed surveys into the controversial … Read More
US Pipeline Regulations “Inadequate”
One thing is certain: pipelines have become a political hot potato. Over the next few months the debate about Keystone XL will surely dog the Presidential debate like a bad penny. But as the furore over Keystone has grown it is easy to forget about the state of other pipelines in the US and how … Read More
Big Oil Approved Canada’s FQD Strategy
We have known for a long time that the Canadian government was colluding with the oil and gas industry over tar sands and its campaign against Europe’s Fuel Quality Directive (FQD). But new documents have come to light that reveal the extent of that collusion, especially between Big Oil and Natural Resources Canada, the Department … Read More
BP or not BP?
As part of the build-up to the Olympics, Britain is hosting the World Shakespeare Festival, that kicked off on Monday which would have been the Bard’s 448th birthday. The Festival is being billed as the biggest ever festival to celebrate his work: production companies from around the world will perform a total of 70 plays, … Read More
“Bully-Boy Canada” Delays EU Action (Again)
One of the dirtiest and diplomatically-brutal PR campaigns ever witnessed in Brussels has once again paid off. At the end of last week, the EU finally buckled to Canadian arm-twisting and delayed the introduction of the long awaited Fuel Quality Directive, which is designed to reduce carbon emissions from transport fuels. The European Council – … Read More