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Around 50 protesters turned out at UK Parliament to protest Harper - credit Rajan Zaveri

Stop Harper!: Canadian PM met by multiple tar sands protests in London

– Stephen Harper met by large crowd of protesters from 30 environmental and human rights groups – Five activists arrested after blocking the entrance to Harper’s speech and scaling the roof of Parliament – 6 MPs table an Early Day Motion to keep tar sands out of Europe – Harper criticised for using trip to lobby against EU climate legislation and spread misinformation – Brigette DePape’s iconic ‘Stop Harper’ page protest recreated outside Houses of Parliament Facebook photogallery Today, Canada’s controversial leader Stephen Harper was met by three separate protests as he attempted to deliver a prestigious speech to both Houses of the UK Parliament. He arrived in the UK on Tuesday, and has been using the trip to lobby […]

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Tar Sands protests to greet Canadian PM as he addresses Parliament

Tomorrow, Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in London to address both Houses of Parliament, in advance of the G8 summit. This is the first time in nearly 70 years the honour has been extended to a Canadian leader. But his visit will be greeted by anti-tar sands protests outside, and an Early Day Motion from MPs calling on the UK government to support EU legislation discouraging future tar sands importshttps://www.no-tar-sands.org/files/category/latestupdates/eu-legislation/page/. the protest has transatlantic support from 30 organisations, including greenpeace uk, council of canadians, friends of the earth – england wales and northern ireland, the canadian indigenous tar sands campaign and the world development movement. concern in the uk over the impact of tar sands extraction has grown steadily in […]

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Eriel Deranger, Robert Thompson, Ron Plain, by Ben Powless

Indigenous communities oppose ‘extreme energy’ at Shell’s AGM

Shell to face barrage of criticism tomorrow over financially risky and environmentally damaging new projects. As the business case for tar sands extraction falters, Arctic drilling is suspended, and the company is investigated for price fixing, Shell’s board will be under pressure to defend the direction it is taking at its AGM in The Hague on Tuesday 21 May. You can watch a live webcast of the event if you register. Two Indigenous women, representing communities impacted by Shell’s operations abroad, will attend the AGM to confront the Chairman and Board over the massive human and ecological rights violations and economic devastation that the company’s operations bring to Indigenous communities. They will argue that Shell’s decision to pursue highly risky […]

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FOEE and UKTSN Brussels protest

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 importihttps://www.no-tar-sands.org/files/category/latestupdates/eu-legislation/page/ng 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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Protest over decision on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline the go-ahead as US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives at the G8, London.April 11, 2013

Creating a future we want: How Europe can stop tar sands expansion

By Emily Coats, cross-posted from the Extreme Energy Initiative, Human Rights Consortium The tar sands megaproject is a striking example of what happens when money, greed and die-hard adherence to the status quo dominate our idea of ‘progress’: it results in the destruction of entire ecosystems and the ‘slow industrial genocide’ of First Nations. The industry likes to boast of its humble beginnings, how against all odds it broke through technological constraints to access this valuable resource. But what it has created is a monstrosity, which is obliterating a centuries-old way of life for indigenous peoples, spewing toxins into the local environment, and sending us hurtling towards catastrophic climate change. Propped up by inordinate tax cuts from the Canadian and […]

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Watch out, Valero!

Manchester, Texas Pembrokeshire, Wales Few things put the wind up a corporation more than when its critics start to unite. Making every issue seem isolated and insignificant is a perpetual tactic to divide and conquer dissenting voices – so showing that each case is symptomatic of a wider problem is a powerful way to disarm them. We’ve been successful in the past in bringing together impacted communities affected by BP in the tar sands, US Gulf Coast, and West Papua, and affected by Shell in Canada, Nigeria, Rossport and the Arctic. The next target for transatlantic information sharing was US refining company Valero, which operates mainly around North America, but for one lone refinery in Europe, which happens to be […]

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A visit to the Cabinet Office

Hi friends, On Monday we paid a visit to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s office to hand in a petition with nearly 4,000 signatures, urging the government to support the inclusion of tar sands in the EU Fuel Quality Directive. We’d teamed up with a number of people from different groups, including Eleanor who had travelled all the way from Pembrokeshire, where her community is campaigning against refining company Valero’s plans to import https://www.no-tar-sands.org/files/category/latestupdates/eu-legislation/page/tar sands oil to wales. you can watch the film here. the pembrokeshire media also covered the issue. you’re going to be hearing a lot more about the fuel quality directive in the next few months. if you thought we’d already been through this before, you’d be […]

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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 https://www.no-tar-sands.org/files/category/latestupdates/eu-legislation/page/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 […]

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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 […]

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It’s a momentous day in the fight against the tar sands

Good afternoon! Today in Washington DC, tens of thousands of people are taking part in the biggest climate rally in US history. They are asking President Obama to move #ForwardOnClimate and, specifically, to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The President’s imminent decision will have momentous consequences. KXL is ‘a fuse to the largest carbon bomb on the planet.’ So today we’re asking you to show solidarity with our friends in the US and Canada who are working so hard to stop the KXL and other pipelines being built, by sharing this image on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also add your voice to the campaign to keep tar sands oil out of Europe for good, by signing […]

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