Last week, on the 5th anniversary of the Iraq War, hundreds of people stood with Oil Change International in the streets in front of the American Petroleum Institute demanding a Separation of Oil & State. They know, just as we do, that oil was the central motivation of the war in Iraq, that oil money … Read More
protests
Shell Says it Has Approval to Go Back into Ogoni…
Breaking developments from Nigeria about the oil company Shell returning to Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Ogoni region. Yesterday’s Nigerian Vanguard newspaper ran the headline “Shell Resumes Operations In Ogoni”. The paper reported how “fifteen years after it was chased out of Ogoni communities in the wake of agitation on the Ogoni Bill of Rights Shell Petroleum Development … Read More
Shell Calls Force Majeure on Nigerian Operations
You can see why Alaska is so attractive for Shell. Its only got a few polar bears in its way, rather than thousands of locals who oppose its operations. The company’s Nigerian arm said that 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude output was halted because of leaks on the Nembe Creek pipeline in the … Read More
Oil Change “Bears” Witness to Canada’s Tar Sands Insanity
Pat the Polar Bear joined the Oil Change International team to greet Alberta’s Premier Ed Stelmach during his tar sands promotional trip to Washington, D.C. Even as Canadians rank climate as one of their highest concerns, the country is moving aggressively to develop this highly carbon-intensive and dirty source of oil. “The amazing thing about … Read More
Why protest?
Its a very busy fall for us here at Oil Change International. As our concern over both the war and global warming is growing, we’re putting a lot of effort into manifesting that concern into protest. The connection between protest and change is real, and important to understand. In a recent academic study (pdf) of … Read More
Burma: Business As Usual For Big Oil
It may be bloody on the streets of Burma, but its business as usual for the oil industry. While Burma’s military junta cracks down on pro-democracy protests, oil companies are quietly jostling for access to the country’s largely untapped natural gas and oil fields. Just last Sunday – as marches led by Buddhist monks drew … Read More
Six Hurt in Climate Protest
The British police showed their usual degree of heavy-handiness yesterday, when six people were injured and 14 arrested after clashes between police and climate change protesters near Heathrow airport. Skirmishes were still continuing last night and protests over the aviation industry’s growing carbon emissions and attempts to expand Heathrow airport are expected to continue until … Read More
“Bullying” BAA Seeks “Mother of all Injunctions”
BAA, the operator of London’s largest airport, Heathrow, will return to the High Court today to seek “the mother of all injunctions” to prevent thousands of people affiliated to environmental organisations from attending the Camp for Climate Action at the airport from 14 to 21 August. The company says it wants to “protect the airport … Read More
16,000 police and a 12 kilometer fence surround G8 Summit
The upcoming G8 Summit, which formally begins on June 6, is one of the biggest security operations in Germany’s post-war era. The German government has brought roughly 16,000 police officers and 1,100 soldiers from across the country to Heiligendamm, Germany, a small resort town on the Baltic coast where the Summit will take place. Germany … Read More
G8 Day One: Let the Demonstrations Begin!
Saturday, June 2: G8 leaders won’t arrive for several days, but the demonstrations in Germany have already begun. I’m just back from today’s march, which started in a few different locations throughout city of Rostock, Gemany, and then converged at the fair grounds near the city’s harbor. The Police have apparently claimed that there were … Read More