‘Tar Sands Oil Orgy’ blockades Canada House in London
Canada-EU Energy Summit disrupted as Canada’s aggressive lobbying threatens EU climate legislation Yesterday morning an ‘oil orgy’ performance-protest disrupted the Canada Europe Energy Summit, at Canada House, in London. The annual energy summit was hosted by Canadian High Commissioner Gordon Campbell and featured top officials from Shell, Total and Enbridge, along with Conservative Energy and Climate Minister John Hayes (who has recently received media attention for an alleged plot to promote the anti-wind farm agenda in the Coalition Government). The aim of the event was to promote Canada’s tar sands in Europe, and discussions included how to deal with ‘public policy risks’ such as impending European transport legislation which would discourage imports of highly-polluting fuels like tar sands into the EU [...]
Read More...Get involved this month!
In the next few weeks we have not one but TWO exciting actions coming up and we would just love to have you there. Sunday 18th November ‘Out, Damned Logo!’ Shakespearean flashmob The Reclaim Shakespeare Company season finale in the British Museum. Tuesday 20th November Down with Dirty Oil Diplomacy Oil executives, bankers and dirty diplomats will be gathering at Canada House to plot and scheme about how to expand the tar sands industry and turn Canada into an energy superpower. Read more about both events»
Read More...Tar sands ‘dirty oil’ could soon be coming to Pembrokeshire, UK
US company Valero admits plans to import highly-polluting oil to UK, locals vow to oppose it A new report published by the UK Tar Sands Network, Corporate Watch and Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth reveals that US energy company Valero is expecting to bring increasing quantities of oil derived from the controversial tar sands to locations around the UK, including Pembrokeshire, Wales. According to the report, “Tar Sands coming to Town”, Valero purchased the Pembroke refinery in August 2011 as part of its plans to increase diesel exports to Europe, particularly the UK and Ireland. The company plans for a rapidly growing portion of this diesel to originate from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada. The Canadian tar sands industry [...]
Read More...Activists disrupt speeches by Canadian Minister and Shell Chairman
Anti-tar sands campaigners claim Canada and Shell are ‘strangling climate action’ Today at a high-level conference on climate change at Chatham House, London, two activists interrupted first Peter Kent, Canada’s Environment Minister, then Shell’s UK Chairman Graham van’t Hoff, as they got up to make speeches. The conference attendees included EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres and Professor Thomas Stocker from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. There was laughter at the tongue-in-cheek speeches which referred to Kent as an “agent from a rogue petro-state” and Shell as “world-class greenwashers”, and the audience listened attentively for several minutes, before the activists were removed by security. Anti-tar sands campaigner removed from the stage while interrupting Shell Chairman [...]
Read More...The Merchant of Darkness – The story of BP & the Reclaim Shakespeare Company
A play of three acts telling the story of BP, ‘a merchant of most monstrous greed’, the RSC ‘a goodly company of players’ and the rebel performers who seek to remove the mask from BP’s face. Inspired by the Bard and wise to BP’s ‘deep and dark desires’ the rebel players, known as ‘The Reclaim Shakespeare Company’, have performed many times at RSC productions. Using the brief interlude before the start of a play they have jumped upon the stage to make clear their concerns about the oil giant’s sponsorship of the World Shakespeare Festival. All our theatrical interventions and our manifesto can be seen at http://www.bp-or-not-bp.org
Read More...Double double, oil is trouble (and so is custard!)
Dear Custard-spillers, RSC at the British Museum from rikki indymedia on Vimeo. It’s been a busy few days. We finally announced the results of the Greenwash Gold 2012 competition for worst Olympic sponsor on Friday in Trafalgar Square – and found seven of our crew behind bars for spilling some green custard on the ground! Turns out the Olympics police are a little touchy. Yesterday we continued our efforts to shame BP’s sponsorship efforts when we joined a large troupe of players in the Reclaim Shakespeare Company to ‘reduce BP to rubble’ in a Macbeth-esque pop-up play inside the British Museum. We have more events coming up to tell you about. No rest for the wicked! 1. BP’s greenwash awarded [...]
Read More...‘Out damn logo!’ We take to the stage. Twice.
Dear actor-vists, This week, the Reclaim Shakespeare Company is back with a vengeance, jumping onto BP-sponsored stages and performing guerrilla Shakespeare before startled but receptive audiences. Get the full story below, along with the latest on the Greenwash Gold campaign, which is coming to a head as the Olympics hurtle towards us. 1. ‘Out damn logo!’ 2. Will BP win Greenwash Gold? 3. Upcoming event: Art-Oil-Numbers-Bodies-Love As you know, the arts are underfunded – and our particular brand of pop-up performance is no exception. Could you help us do more of these interventions by making a donation? We promise to spend it on creative action against oil industry sponsorship of the arts. Love not logos, Jess, Emily, Sue and Ruthi [...]
Read More...Greenwash Gold protest takes our message direct to LOCOG’s Head Offices (guest blog)
Originally published on Monday, 18 June 2012. Written by Bhopal Medical Appeal This morning, protesters from the London Mining Network, UK Tar Sands Network and the Bhopal Medical Appeal, the campaign groups behind the Greenwash Gold 2012 campaign, protested outside LOCOG headquarters. After LOCOG’s constant refusal to meet any of the groups involved in the Greenwash Gold campaign about the London Olympics’ controversial corporate sponsors, we thought we should take our message right to their front door. We took giant dummy megaphones to project our message to the LOCOG offices. We asked LOCOG to send down a representative to meet us, but once again LOCOG refused to engage. This is in spite of the fact that, following Drop Dow Now’s [...]
Read More...RBS finance for tar sands revealed on eve of AGM – students protest
Press Release 30th May – For Immediate Release Platform [1], UK Tar Sands Network [2] and the Indigenous Environmental Network [3] have revealed that in the past year the Royal Bank of Scotland underwrote bonds worth $131.25 million [4] for controversial Canadian tar sands pipeline company Enbridge Energy Partners [5]. At the RBS AGM tomorrow in Edinburgh student groups are planning to protest the banks fossil fuel investments. Enbridge Energy Partners is the subject of intense controversy in Canada as their proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline would run through the traditional territories of over 60 First Nations [6]. These include the Yinka Dene Alliance [7] who just this month protested against Enbridge in several Canadian provinces as part of a ‘Freedom Train’[8]. The combined [...]
Read More...Shell besieged by critics at Annual General Meeting
Many questions left unanswered for Indigenous representatives impacted by Arctic drilling and Alberta Tar Sands in The Hague, whilst ‘Grim Reapers’ stalked the satellite AGM in London. See this video and more at Indymedia London Today, Indigenous representatives affected by the Alberta Tar Sands and proposed Arctic drilling addressed Shell executives and shareholders at Shell’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in The Hague, to highlight their concerns with Shell’s operations and lack of adequate consultation with their communities. Meanwhile at the London satellite AGM (connected to The Hague by live video), protesters dressed as ‘Grim Reapers’ in Shell death-masks stood silently during the proceedings. The four-hour meeting was dominated by criticism by shareholders over Shell’s social and environmental performance, particularly in [...]
Read More...