Legal Oil, Ethical Oil and Profiteering in the Niger Delta and the Canadian North
Jan 30, 2012
In this guest blog post, Professor Anna Zalik of York University Canada explores how governments and multinationals criminalise protest and gloss over the environmental injustices of oil extraction. Q: What does the Canadian Government’s fury at opponents of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline have to do with the Nigerian ‘legaloil’ campaign? A: Both positions are...
In pictures: Chevron rig still burning in Nigeria
Jan 26, 2012
On 16 January, between 4.30am and 5am, Chevron’s KS Endeavour drilling rig exploded six miles off the coast of Nigeria after the company lost control of the gas well. Two workers were reported killed. Ten days on, the fire continues to burn. Photos courtesy of Morris Alagoa at ERA/FoE Nigeria.
Oil, art & human rights links
Jan 25, 2012
EU oil companies including Shell and Total will be banned from importing and purchasing Iranian oil by new sanctions, reported Reuters. As Iran threatens to retaliate by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a major artery of global oil shipments, the UK foreign minister William Hague downplayed the likelihood of war.
Climate scientists support Request Initiative’s appeal for GWPF to reveal funders
Jan 23, 2012
Below is a blog cross-posted from Request Initiative, who support charities and non-profit organisations to use freedom of information laws. This Friday, the group will ask the Information Rights Tribunal to expose the seed funder to a climate sceptic think-tank (GWPF) with suspected links to BP, Shell and other energy companies. For the original blog post,...
Chevron oil rig explodes off coast of Nigeria; 2 killed
Jan 18, 2012
On Monday 16 January at 4.30 to 5am, Chevron's KS Endeavour drilling rig burst into flames, approximately 6 miles off the coast of Nigeria. Two workers are reported missing. The gas rig is still said to be burning for the second day running and is reported to have partially collapsed into the ocean. The cause is...
How John Browne, BP and the Old Boys Network keep the arts well-oiled
Jan 13, 2012
It’s 10.30am on a spectacularly sunny winter’s day and I’m in the Members’ Room at Tate Modern. The room overlooks the Square Mile – London’s financial district – and the view symbolises the growing pressures on artists and arts organisations to seek funding from the private sector, specifically from business. Looking once again at the panel...
Direct news question mega fail: is Ethical Oil funded by Enbridge Pipeline?
Jan 13, 2012
Yesterday on Canadian national news channel CBC a spokesperson for EthicalOil.org floundered as she unconvincingly avoided the interviewer’s repeated question “Does Ethical Oil take money from Enbridge Pipeline?” The repetition of the question makes the whole interview very watchable – especially around 4:40 into the video. If EthicalOil.org do take financial support from Enbridge, it...
Conviction of two of Stephen Lawrence’s murderers: a new chapter
Jan 7, 2012
To see what Platform’s youth, arts and activism project Shake! has to say at this significant moment, and also going back over the months to when we started the project at the Stephen Lawrence Centre in Deptford in August 2010, start here. Shake’s young people make change happen through poetry, music, comment, actions, discussion, and performances, supported...
The Corporate Occupation of the Arts – Sat 14th of Jan
Jan 4, 2012
The Corporate Occupation of the Arts. -OccupyLSX / The Bank of Ideas Earl St. EC2A 2AL – Sat 14th Jan 2012. 2- 6pm We're taking part in this afternoon of presentations and discussions at the Bank of Ideas, an abandoned office block purchased several years ago by the bank UBS and squatted by Occupy LSX....
Shell’s Bonga oil spill hits Nigerian communities
Jan 4, 2012
Shell’s major oil spill at the offshore Bonga facility in Nigeria is threatening the livelihoods of at least 13 different coastal communities, reports Reuters. As thick crude oil continues washing up on Nigeria’s shoreline, Shell is denying responsibility and claims that “non-Bonga oil” from a third party spill is to blame. A local resident from...
UK government backs risky offshore drilling
Dec 31, 2011
Despite serious environmental concerns, the heightened risk of major accidents and inadequate regulatory oversight, the UK’s Department for Energy and Climate Change has awarded 46 new licences for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, including in the ecologically sensitive West of Shetlands area. Speaking to BBC News, Adam Ma’anit of Platform condemned the move: “There...
Shell spill worst in a decade, says Nigerian regulator
Dec 22, 2011
Nigeria’s oil spill agency, NOSDRA, says that Shell’s Bonga oil spill “is likely the worst [offshore spill] in a decade.” Peter Idabor of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency told The Associated Press on Thursday that oil from the spill in Shell’s Bonga field has spread to roughly 100 nautical miles. Idabor said...
