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7 Feb 2023 jamesGifts from the Sea
The Oil Machine in Cromarty The Stagecoach bus judders and swerves as it takes the bend past Braehead and Davidston, past the fields of stubble and grazing sheep. The driver knows these empty roads on The Black Isle intimately and is eager to reach the journey’s end. Suddenly, over the crest of the hill, Cromarty…
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The Guns of Economic War – unpicking the decisions by BP to sell out of Russia
Far from the terrifying realities of the shelling of civilians in Kyiv, Kharkiv and other Ukrainian cities, far from the desperation of women and children trying to board trains for Poland, far from the sickening din of armour in the streets, the guns the economic war are firing. The bravery of Ukrainian citizens in resisting…
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10 Feb 2022 jamesFuel poverty and Shell profits – who possesses the gas system?
Standing in the front benches of the Opposition in the House of Commons, Rachel Reeves, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, declared “Citizens Advice have said they have seen a record number of people in January … Only today Shell announced that their profits had quadrupled to 20 billion dollars. They described the results as momentous,…
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9 Feb 2019 jamesOf Climate and Memory – Extinction Rebellion and Doreen Massey
We drive slowly down the winding lane that leads across the flat landscape on the northern flank of the Solway Firth in the county of Dumfries & Galloway. As we move onto the farmland of Preston Merse, we are distracted by the red stone ruin of Wreaths Tower. All that remains of the craggy weathered…
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Victory at Leith Hill! Divest Fracking! Resisting sites of speculation
This piece was written before the news of the draconian jail sentences passed on those opposing fracking in Preston, Lancashire … but that bitter ruling does not destroy the reality that shortly before that decision we celebrated a Victory! The News of an Amazing Victory! We wrote of it as follows … The permission to…
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“You come from the premise that we are guilty already” – notes from the BP AGM 2016
Bob Dudley, Chief Executive, who appears tired, pale and jowly, looks up from his notes and addresses a set of questions that have been put to the Board. This particular set from delegates at the Annual General Meeting of BP, are grouped together under the bracket of ‘concerned with climate change’. He peers out at…
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A manifesto for Energy beyond Neoliberalism
We’ve written a manifesto titled Energy beyond Neoliberalism: “This is a call for energy democracy. Not energy security or energy separation. A survivable and just energy future means breaking the grip of elite interests on our energy systems, ending dependency, increasing autonomy, building diverse power structures through which we can hold one another to account,…
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The Secret Figures Behind North Sea Oil
What’s missing from the oil debate around Scotland’s referendum? The dominant voices on both sides of the #indyref debate have focused on total reserves left on the UK Continental Shelf, and on the potential for an oil fund. But the debate has shied away from asking in whose interest oil should be governed, and whether…
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Norwegian research ethics committee slams university-oil industry links
(Guest blog by Ragnhild Freng Dale. For more information on collusion between oil companies & universities in Britain, see Platform’s report Knowledge & Power) A damning statement from the Norwegian committee responsible for university research ethics challenges collaboration between universities and oil companies. After months of deliberation over the ethics of petroleum research, the Norwegian…
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Statoil ends music sponsorship after growing controversy in Norway
Ragnhild Freng Dale reports on an important development in anti-oil sponsorship campaigning in Norway. October 2013 marked an important milestone for the Norwegian artists fighting the oil sponsorship of the arts in their country: Statoil ended their longstanding Bylarm-sponsorship for pop and rock music. Stretching six years back in time, Statoil and ByLarm have collaborated…
