TELL NORMAN BAKER TO STOP BLOCKING TAR SANDS BAN
FollowDear giant petition-signers,
Thanks to everyone who came to London for Saturday’s International Stop the Tar Sands Day. If you organised something elsewhere, tell us about it!
1. International Stop the Tar Sands Day
2. Stop the UK blocking action on tar sands!
3. New briefing: ‘Stop Tar Sands Going Global’
Love and erratic weather,
Jess, Sue & Emily
1. International Stop the Tar Sands Day
Events took place around the world, gathering a storm of media. Lush stores across Europe covered people in molasses; People & Planet students up and down the UK performed ‘tarring and feathering’; and actions in Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand brought tar sands awareness to new outlets. See the international site for videos and photos of the day.
In London we were very focused on the UK’s involvement in blocking the inclusion of Tar Sands in the Fuel Quality Directive. See here for our write-up on the past few days including a video by Nancy Boulicault.
International Stop the Tar Sands Day London, 2011 from Nancy Boulicault on Vimeo.
2. Stop the UK blocking action on tar sands!
Our giant petition from Saturday’s action got safely delivered to the Department for Transport on Monday. Minister for Transport Norman Baker’s getting pressure from all sides, but so far hasn’t shifted. Please add to the pressure by signing this Avaaz online petition to add to the 40,000+ people who have already expressed their concern about the UK blocking EU climate legislation.
3. New briefing: ‘Stop Tar Sands Going Global’
While Saturday may have sent a clear message that the world is watching Canada, we know that we can’t afford to let tar sands in other places slip through our fingers. We have launched a new briefing, outlining some of the likely countries being targeted for tar sands exploitation – unless we can stop it. See our resources page for more info, or download it directly.
Meanwhile, the World Development Movement (WDM) is leading the fight to cajole French oil giant Total out of the Madagascan tar sands. If you haven’t already, write to Total’s CEO.
<iframe src=”http://player.vimeo.com/video/25324716″ width=”500″ height=”375″ frameborder=”0″ webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> <p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/25324716″>International Stop the Tar Sands Day London, 2011</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/user2001697″>Nancy Boulicault</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>
One Response to “TELL NORMAN BAKER TO STOP BLOCKING TAR SANDS BAN”
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Under the draft EU Fuel Quality Directive, oil sands crude (from Canada) would have a value of 107 grams of carbon dioxide per megajoule of energy, compared to 87.5 grams for conventional oil.
The problem with this assessment is that there will be no distinction between light and heavy oil. This is important because, for example, oil crude from Russia and Nigeria has similar greenhouse gas emissions to that of the oil sands in Canada.
The consequence of the Commission’s proposals is that high-carbon oil may be admitted from other countries into Europe, while oil sands may be blocked. I believe that such a result would be unjust.