The US House of Representatives voted on H.R.4480: the Strategic Energy Production Act earlier today. The vote passed 248-163. Once again, dirty energy money interests have prevailed. Those voting in favor of the measure have taken over $52 million from the oil, gas and coal industries since 1999, and almost $11 million in this Congress … Read More
Carbon Emissions
Its Official: Fracking Causes Quakes
An independent report commissioned by the British government has confirmed that the controversial drill technique known as fracking did cause two small earthquakes, near Lancaster in North West England last year. The company concerned, Cuadrilla, halted fracking after two minor quakes were recorded in April and May, with magnitudes of 2.3 and 1.5 respectively. The … Read More
Tar Sands: “No get-out-of-jail-free card”
If you read some of the Canadian press coverage, a recent scientific study has offered the pro-tar sands movement a real fillip in its attempts to spin its dirty fuel as “ethical oil” that is no dirtier than conventional crude. The Canadians are now essentially arguing it gives them the scientific back-up to carry on … Read More
“Dirty” Canada Dumps Kyoto Protocol
Finally the pretence is over. For years Canada said it cared about climate change at the same time as developing one of the most dirty fuels on the planet, the tar sands. But we knew it was a lie. For years Canada has told European politicians that it is committed to greenhouse gas reductions in … Read More
Record CO2 Emissions and a Deal by … 2020
The daunting task of somehow creating a meaningful post-Kyoto deal at the Durban climate talks has been made even more urgent by the news that global emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil-fuels jumped by the largest amount on record last year. According to new research by the Global Carbon Project (GCP) emissions of CO2 rose … Read More
Canada’s “Dirty Lobby Diary” Exposed
Over the last few months I have been working with Friends of the Earth Europe looking at the extensive lobbying by the Canadian government over the tar sands in Europe. What we uncovered is that over the last two years we have seen a concerted lobbying campaign by the Canadian and Albertan governments to undermine … Read More
What if the Carbon Bubble Bursts?
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
Keystone Could Add a “Billion-Tons” of CO2
As the row over the Keystone XL pipeline continues, the US is sending mixed messages over the dirty tar sands. Speaking to the Gas and Oil Expo and Conference, David Jacobson, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, waxed lyrical about Canada, describing it as the “safest and most secure foreign supplier” of oil the US. “The … Read More
“This is the worst news on emissions”
When historians look back at the beginning of this century, one of the complex phenomena that they must unravel is that as the warnings about climate change got more severe, the stronger the conspiracy became that it was not happening. Take just the last 24 hours. Yesterday, the Guardian ran with the headline that “Worst … Read More
UK Gov Drops Consumer Levy on CCS
If we are going to carry on burning fossil fuels, then either the climate will slowly fry, or we have to find a way to stop carbon dioxide frying the climate. One way is to bury it. One of the most controversial techniques is Carbon, Capture and Storage, where the CO2 will be captured and … Read More