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Delays underline flawed strategy in Canadian Tar Sands
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 11. The collapse in the oil price in the autumn of 2008, tumbling from $147 to $40 per barrel, saw a corresponding rout in one of the most high-cost oil provinces in the world – the Canadian tar sands. From September to April, week…
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Iraq backs down to oil company pressure
Carbon Web Newsletter, Issue 11. The falling oil price has pushed the Iraqi government onto the back foot, allowing foreign oil companies to demand greater concessions. The Iraqi government has had to slash its 2009 budget from $80 bn to under $60 bn – and even this revised figure is based on an optimistic $50…
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Falling oil price opens new doors for BP & Shell
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 11. The falling oil price will significantly reduce the bargaining position of oil producing countries. The dramatic crash from an all-time high of $147 a barrel in summer 2008 to $34 in January 2009 has already reversed the trend of resource sovereignty seen…
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RBS goes Arctic
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 11. In mid-March 2009, after the most recent bailout, RBS financed exploration work in previously untouched regions of Greenland’s Arctic. Acting as joint bookrunner with Merrill Lynch on March 11, RBS placed shares worth £116 million for Cairn Energy, a Scottish oil company. Although…
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The Oil and Gas Bank
The Royal Bank of Scotland has long ploughed money into fossil fuels – but now we own it, shouldn’t it stop? Kevin Smith looks at the campaign to get the bank to take responsibility for climate damage. First published at https://www.redpepper.org.uk/The-oil-and-gas-bank/ by Kevin Smith. One of the main causes of the current banking crisis has been the…
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A green economy could be ours
The government should use its shareholder position in the newly recapitalised banks to push for proactive change from within – This article was first published at https://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/21/banking-crisis. In early November, representatives from 20 different organisations from around the world gathered in Spain as part of the BankTrack network to lay out a response to the banking…
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Banks need to clean up their green act
Before they benefit from any kind of bail-out, banks should commit to reducing their investment in fossil fuels. – This article was originally published at https://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/08/fossilfuels.banks. On the same day as it became apparent that RBS would need billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to save it from collapse, the government’s climate change watchdog warned that we should…
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Life in the Landscape of Hydrocarbons – Exit Strategy III
By James Marriott – This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. How was it that the marshes of Hoo St Werburgh – so good for grazing cattle and sheep, so rich in birdlife – were turned into a site for Kingsnorth Power Station – with its chimneys and access roads,…
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Preventing an industrial tipping point
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. BP, Shell & the Canadian tar sands Under the pristine boreal forest in Northern Alberta lie the Canadian tar sands, a vast carbon time bomb that if ignited will dramatically increase the chance of passing a climate change tipping point. While a rational…
