When the pro-tar sands lobby group pounced on Platform’s new research on Nigeria to justify Canada’s “blood oil”, we were disgusted. Here is my blog response in The Huffington Post Canada. (Note they changed the title from ‘tar sands’ to the more innocuous ‘oil sands’).
Canada’s Dirty and Dangerous Oil Sands
EthicalOil.org has a reputation for using just about anything to promote Canada’s tar sands. The local mayor, Aboriginals and environmentalists have all been thrust into EthicalOil.org’s narrative, some against their will. This Monday it was my turn to get ‘tarred’ as the website’s spokesperson Kathryn Marshall declared herself to be on “the very same page” as me. The assertion could not be further from the truth.
I work for Platform, a UK based charity that is opposed to the exploitation of tar sands in Canada. We focus our campaigning efforts on key UK companies that are heavily invested in the tar sands, including BP, Shell and the Royal Bank of Scotland. We work with global allies such as Indigenous Environmental Network and Rainforest Action Network. We also oppose the ongoing human rights abuses and environmental devastation caused by Shell and its partners in Nigeria and beyond.
Continue reading here.