- May 16, 2013
- One Comment
- EU Legislation, Front Carousel, Latest Updates, Press Releases
UK caught in battle over Canadian tar sands
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, [...]
Read More...Outrage in Oxford as University launches partnership with Shell
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 [...]
Read More...Activists rally outside G8 and send Kerry a message: Say No to Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
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 [...]
Read More...Pembrokeshire community urges Nick Clegg to keep tar sands oil out of Europe
Member of local group travels to London to present petition Today Eleanor Clegg, Llangolman resident and member of Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth, was joined by a coalition of concerned citizens and campaigners to present a petition to Nick Clegg in Whitehall, London. The petition, organised UK Tar Sands Network, 350.org, Campaign Against Climate Change, People & Planet, and Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth, urged the Deputy Prime Minister to support the EU Fuel Quality Directive (FQD), legislation which will discourage imports of tar sands oil to Europe. The petition pointed out that increasing amounts of tar sands oil are expected to be imported to the UK, especially via Valero‘s refinery in Pembroke. Valero, a key supporter of the Keystone [...]
Read More...Canadian High Commissioner’s Visit to Oxford Tarred by Local Protest
Oxford, UK- Canadian High Commissioner to the UK, Gordon Campbell, was greeted with protests at Oxford University on Friday. Local community members held a banner which read “Keep Tar Sands out of Europe” at the entrance to Lady Margaret Hall as Campbell arrived to deliver a seminar at the college. “Canada is promoting tar sands oil as a clean and ethical energy source, when we know that the exact opposite is the case,” said Suzanne Dhaliwal, from the UK Tar Sands Network. “Entire ecosystems are being destroyed and communities are being devastated in order to extract this highly polluting source of oil.” Campbell, the former premier of British Columbia, has been on a persistent campaign to promote Canadian tar sands [...]
Read More...‘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...‘Oil Orgy’ protest to blockade Canada House : Canada’s ‘Dirty Diplomacy’ threatening EU climate legislation
Protesters will blockade the annual Canada Europe Energy Summit, on Tuesday November 20th at 8:30 am with a performance-style protest. They will be joined by Indigenous Chief Phil Lane from Canada, who will talk about the devastating impacts of tar sands development on First Nations communities in Canada. The protest, co-ordinated by UK Tar Sands Network, London Rising Tide, People & Planet, Climate Justice Collective, Climate Rush, Occupy Energy, Environment and Equity Group, Corporate Watch and Climate Action Network Canada will involve activists blocking the entrance to Canada House as delegates arrive. The blockade will take the form of street theatre, with participants playing enthusiastic representatives of the oil industry, encouraging people to join the ‘oil orgy’ and holding speech [...]
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...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 [...]
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