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North Sea oil: The unmentionable climate emergency scandal… until now
Blog post -
May 15, 2019
We’re in a climate emergency – so why is the UK aiming to extract 20 more billions of barrels of oil?! Our research, out today, shows just how far out of touch with reality this plan is – and what the UK needs to do instead, not only to protect the climate, but also workers’...
Sea Change: Climate emergency, jobs and Managing the Phase-out of UK Oil & Gas Extraction
Publication -
May 15, 2019
This report reveals why UK must stop drilling new oil and gas fields in the North Sea in order to meet Paris climate commitments – and how the transition away from fossil fuels can create decent jobs and revive UK industry. Published by Platform, Oil Change International, and Friends of the Earth Scotland. Supported by...
Silence in the Storm – Business and No Deal Brexit
Blog post -
Feb 28, 2019
The storm in Westminster rages so ferociously that at times it’s hard to hear ourselves think. There is second by second coverage of the House of Commons and Downing Street from every conceivable angle. Backbenchers so obscure that we’ve never heard of them before are dragged through the TV studios and closely cross-questioned. Others...
The Invisible Machine – a gas pipeline in the Caucasus and a handshake in No10
Blog post -
May 1, 2018
On the evening of Thursday 26th April 2018, it was warm and sunny in London. President Ilham Aliyev strode down Downing Street and was met by Prime Minister Theresa May with smile and a handshake. They posed for the cameras on the red carpet outside No 10 and then retired inside. A short formal chat...
Paradigm shift in the House of the North – reflecting on ‘The Sky’s Limit’
Blog post -
Nov 15, 2016
I’m trudging towards the top of Am Faochagach following my dear friend Greg Muttitt, who was for a long time central to Platform and is now part of the wider family. The smooth crest of this mountain rises like a whale’s back. Its lack of crags must have led to its name – Am...
Today’s oil drilling round could bust us through UK’s climate limits
Blog post -
Oct 26, 2016
The UK government is pushing a massive new offshore drilling programme, that will take the UK beyond its climate limits. Oil companies had until 2pm today to bid for 1200 blocks covering large swathes of the sea off North-west and North-east Scotland and England. This is the the 29th Offshore Licensing Round, and it aims to identify hundreds of millions in...
6 reasons why #Budget2016 really really shouldn’t subsidise North Sea oil even more
Blog post -
Mar 15, 2016
Osborne is announcing his #Budget2016 on Weds, and there’s lots of pressure from the oil barons for more subsidies and tax cuts. Their income has been hit by the falling oil price, and in all those years of bonanza profits they never thought to save for this rainy day (even though it was predictable given the mostly cyclical...
How to save energy jobs in Scotland: Public ownership, not tax cuts
Blog post -
Aug 25, 2015
As thousands of North Sea oil workers lose their jobs, helicopter pilots threaten strike action over redundancy arrangements and Unite criticise the oil companies of failing “to plan for a rainy day when the sun shone”, we thought we’d share an extract of this new report. ——————————————————- Extract from “Jobs in Scotland’s New Economy”, published by the Scottish...
Share price of BP falling – will Shell take over BP?
Blog post -
Jan 12, 2015
As the London Stock Exchange opened at 09.00 on Tuesday, 16th December, BP’s shareprice was down to 365 pence. It was the bottom of a long slide from 448 pence on the 21st November and investors in the company looked concerned that BP was failing badly. Shares in BP have lost 25% of their value...
BP and #IndyRef – the need to constrain corporate influence in our democracy
Blog post -
Sep 26, 2014
Around about 3.00 am on the morning of Friday 19th September, whilst anxiously watching the results come in on the Scottish Independence Referendum, we heard one of the commentators on STV ‘Scotland Decides’ explain his view that after months of the politicians being unable to help the voters make their decision, ‘business leaders’ had stepped...
The Secret Figures Behind North Sea Oil
Site page -
Sep 15, 2014
What’s missing from the oil debate around Scotland’s referendum? The dominant voices on both sides of the #indyref debate have focused on total reserves left on the UK Continental Shelf, and on the potential for an oil fund. But the debate has shied away from asking in whose interest oil should be governed, and whether...
Cameron’s floods response? Drill baby, drill!
Blog post -
Feb 26, 2014
The flood-waters are slowly receding. Communities across the country are still struggling to regain a sense of normality after the wettest winter on record. Questions are being raised about extreme weather in the UK, how prepared we are to deal with it, and whether or not this is a taster of things to come. You’re...
