Leading scientists in London today to advise UK government on tar sands damage Leak reveals government’s pro-tar sands stance, Norman Baker’s response unconvincing Second Canadian Minister in two weeks visits UK on lobbying mission Comprehensive new tar sands fact-check website launches Today the UK government is under fire for rejecting an EU proposal to classify oil from tar sands as highly polluting, a label that would deter EU countries from importing it. As revealed in the Guardian yesterday, the UK government supports a controversial methodology for the EU’s Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) legislation which would treat tar sands oil the same as conventional oil, despite it being 23% more polluting. Transport Minister Norman Baker has hit back at the allegations, [...]
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Protests from students, staff and alumni as Energy Minister Ed Davey attends opening ceremony Today Oxford University launched a new research partnership with Shell, and opened the Shell Geoscience Laboratory. The ceremony was attended by Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Andrew Hamilton, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University and Alison Goligher, Shell’s Executive Vice-President for Unconventionals. The partnership with the Earth Sciences Department has drawn criticism from alumni, staff and students in a letter published in today’s Guardian. There are over 75 signatories (with more continuing to come in) including prominent environmentalists Jonathon Porritt, George Monbiot and Jeremy Leggett, Emeritus Fellow of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute Brenda Boardman, and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare [...]
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11.04.13 Today at BP’s Annual General Meeting two campaigners were refused entry to the meeting, despite holding legitimate paperwork. Emily Coats, from the UK Tar Sands Network, was told she was ‘not welcome’, despite being a shareholder, because she had previously protested against BP’s involvement in the tar sands. Eight other campaigners, holding shares or proxies, were able to gain entry to the AGM, after invasive ‘random’ searches, where they put pressure on the board to defend the direction it is taking the troubled company. Two of these campaigners were escorted from the meeting when they tried to exercise a right to respond to BP’s inadequate answers to their questions. “I own a share in BP so was shocked to [...]
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LONDON — Approximately 60 activists, including some from Texas and the Gulf Coast, gathered outside the G8 foreign ministers’ meeting at Lancaster House in London today to tell US Secretary of State John Kerry to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, address the global climate crisis, and keep tar sands out of Europe. Over the past month, activists have confronted Kerry and President Obama at nearly all of their public appearances, including an event last week that drew over 1,000 people in San Francisco to a rally outside of an Obama fundraiser. This is the first time a US politician has been met with an anti-Keystone protest on foreign soil. The activists were joined by representatives of Texas and [...]
Continue ReadingDear Friends, We’ve always been lucky in the past few years to be able to support First Nations community representatives to attend the AGMs of companies that threaten their land. This has allowed them to communicate directly to the board and other shareholders, who often have little idea about the disruption, illness, and environmental damage that these communities are experiencing. It has helped bring international attention to the issue of tar sands extraction, putting a human face to the impacts of extreme energy development. This year, it has been difficult to find the necessary funds to go towards airfares, accommodation and logistical support. The Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign has now launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to help raise funds [...]
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