Sometimes the best protests are the most simple and symbolic. Yesterday, Shell’s shareholders and senior management at the company’s AGM in the Hague were presented with an “erratum” to the company’s recent Annual Report. The spoof report by Friends of the Earth looks like a real Shell report, until you start to read it. For … Read More
Canada
Canadian Pipedream
Why Canadian oil does not make America secure Political turmoil in the Middle East once again exposes America’s dependence on oil and its vulnerability to global price spikes. On Capitol Hill, Big Oil’s political lackeys are stepping up their campaign for supply solutions and the current must-have item on their list is the Keystone XL … Read More
EU Looks Set to Label Tar Sands “Dirty”
OK, this week is turning into a tar sands one. The Koch brothers may be keen on cooking the climate by investing in the tar sands, but the EU is one place they may not be able to sell their dirty oil. There is one hell of a diplomatic spat going on behind the scenes … Read More
Koching up the Tar Sands
This is not looking so good. Firstly you have the multi-billionaire Koch Brothers, darlings of the Tea Party, who are the current cash providers for climate change denial industry. And then you have the dirty Albertan tar sands where the oil is so much more carbon intensive to extract that it will help cook the … Read More
Two Disasters, One Conflict, One Bad Result
Two years ago the oil price hit the floor at $33 a barrel. Today, on the back of the Libyan conflict, the price for Brent Crude is $116 a barrel. Two years ago, development of the Canadian tar sands was stalling with many projects being put on hold. According to the International Energy Agency, the … Read More
Tar Sands Threatens Canada-EU Deal
This is a diplomatic row that has been rumbling for some time and it could get nasty. Back in 2009, the EU proposed legislation that would cut imports of dirty tar sands from Canada, as part of its Fuel Quality Directive, which was introduced to encourage cleaner, greener fuels. Canada was worried that the tar … Read More
Posting the Wrong Message on the Tar Sands
When Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper met Barack Obama at the end of last week he asked the American president to support a highly controversial $7-billion pipeline that could double the amount of dirty tar sands that could be exported to the United States. TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline has been on hold since last … Read More
Canada’s Secret “Sensitivities” over Tar Sands
Six years ago, in preparation for George Bush’s visit to the US, leaked Diplomatic cables by Wikileaks show that the ecological cost of the dirty sands was not seen as a diplomatic issue of contention. A message to President Bush by America’s Ambassador in Canada, noted that, in advance of Bush’s visit to Canada at … Read More
“Gracias Por Nada” Canada
So its week two at the climate talks, when the heavyweights begin to arrive. Over the next few days, environment ministers, Prime Ministers and Presidents will all head to the Mexican resort of Cancun. Due to arrive tomorrow is Albertan Environment Minister, Rob Renner, who will be greeted by a sarcastic “muchas gracias” newspaper adverts. … Read More
The IEA acknowledges peak demand is needed
This year’s IEA World Energy Outlook (WEO) contains a startling peak oil prediction. In order to prevent climate change getting out of control, global demand for oil should peak by 2018 at only 1 million barrels per day (Mbpd) more than today’s demand level. While the IEA has been much criticized for denying peak oil … Read More