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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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The Living Memorial: an update from Remember Saro-Wiwa
Sept/Oct 2008 – SABLE literary magazine – Ben Amunwa – The Living Memorial: an update from Remember Saro-Wiwa – feature article on Remember Saro-Wiwa Text & pdf to follow.
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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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A view from Tbilisi
The Russia-Georgia conflict and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline by Manana Kochladze – This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. A new Cold War. Punishment of Georgia’s pro-western tendencies. Reincarnation of a strong Russia. A return to a multipolar world. What all these narratives miss is that the Great Game is old,…
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Conflict in the Caucasus
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. British troops dispatched to Georgia to protect the flow of Caspian crude oil from Baku from the encroaching Russian threat. This was 1919, when Britain took control of the Black Sea ports of Batumi and Poti, the outlets through which Azeri…
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Oil & Violence in Turkey
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. At 11pm on 5 August, a major explosion ruptured the BTC pipeline near Yurtbashi village in Turkey’s eastern Erzincan province. The blast sent flames shooting up to 160 feet in the air. Nearby residents told PLATFORM that they heard explosions, before a plume…
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The ‘Oil for war’ deal – Iraq
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. In 2002 the future Oil Minister of Iraq, Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, enthusiastically described the occupation as both a “sort of life insurance for continuing the social and political changes” and “a great incentive for attracting the international oil companies”. On one hand, the…
