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Iraq oil law in the balance
As Carbon Web goes to press, the Iraqi government’s end-of-May deadline for parliament to pass the controversial oil law is just days away. Like the US government’s 2006 deadline, this one looks set to be missed – again due to arguments over Kurdish insistence that regions play the primary role in signing contracts with foreign…
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US Iraq strategy – oil objectives unchanged
As Carbon Web goes to press, an announcement is expected of President Bush’s “new strategy” for Iraq. But one thing unlikely to change is his approach to Iraqi oil – This analysis article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web Newsletter, Issue 6. In December, the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group urged the US government to provide…
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Western banks threaten Kazakh communities
A recent fact-finding mission by Crude Accountability and CRBM (Campaign for reform of the World Bank) found expansion of Kazakhstan’s Kashagan field by an international consortium promises environmental degradation and economic uncertainty for residents of western Kazakhstan. Elena Gerebizza and Kate Watters investigate – This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web Newsletter Issue 6.…
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Poisoning the Amazon
Cancer, birth defects and skin diseases affect 30 000 rainforest residents in Ecuador, Joseph Mutti investigates – This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web Newsletter, Issue 6. It’s the smell that hits you first as you approach a pit the size of a football field filled with a choking sludge of oil and dead…
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Remember Saro-Wiwa, in ‘Land, Art – A Cultural Ecology Handbook’
In Land, Art, A Cultural Ecology Handbook, Ed. Max Andrews, RSA, Arts Council England, 2006 The Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed together with eight Ogoni colleagues by the Nigerian military on 10th November 1995 for his effective campaigning against the consistent despoilation of the oil-rich lands of the Niger Delta by oil…
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Will Iraq repeat Russia’s oil mistakes?
By Greg Muttitt, PLATFORM Published in al-Sabah al-Jadeed, October 2006 Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani announced last week that he aimed to sign oil production contracts with foreign companies by the end of next year. Notably, the announcement was made in Australia – like most of the significant statements of Iraqi oil policy, it was…
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George’s oil Dubya-speak
As decision-time approaches, the USA pulls levers on Iraqi oil policy – This report was first published in Platform’s carbon web newsletter, issue 5. “The oil belongs to the Iraqi people. It’s their asset,” declared George W. Bush in a press conference on the White House lawn in June. He had just returned from his…
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Energy Security – for whom?
Some commentators saw this summer’s G8 meeting in St. Petersburg as a clash of empires, with Vladimir Putin using the theme of “energy security” to reassert Russia’s global power. What has received less attention is how the concept is intended to bring ever-increasing supplies of energy to all of the G8 countries, potentially at the…
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George’s Oil Dubya-speak
As decision-time approaches, the USA pulls levers on Iraqi oil policy. “The oil belongs to the Iraqi people. It’s their asset,” declared George W. Bush in a press conference on the White House lawn in June. He had just returned from his surprise visit to Baghdad, in which oil had been one of the main…
