Egyptian communities protest BP expansion plans

Egyptian communities concerned about a proposed BP gas plant on the Mediterranean coast have organised protests, including a sit-in on the site, road blockades and a raid on BP’s local office, as reported by Egyptian paper Al-Masry Al-Youm. The residents of Idku, east of Alexandria, are opposing plans to pump gas ashore from BP’s offshore...

Oil spills & military collusion continue in Niger Delta as Exxon’s offshore fields go down

With the media searching for new angles on BP’s Gulf disaster, stories on the devastation in Nigeria and the “normality” of spills in the Delta are now finally making it back into the papers – see Benoit Faucon’s piece in the Wall Street Journal and Adam Nossiter’s NYT article. It’s about time, as several Exxon spills in quick...

Colombian army attacks striking BP workers

Claire Hall from Espacio Bristol-Colombia describes how the Colombian army has joined in the repression of striking BP workers in Casanare. from Upside Down World: “A five month long mobilisation against BP in the Casanare region of Colombia has escalated after the Colombian army entered the BP installations with force this week and confronted workers who have been peacefully...

“Summer of Tears” in Louisiana’s Bayous

Frontline waterkeepers from Louisiana’s bayous have begun to tell of the devastation caused by the Macondo rupture in the sea floor. Tracy Kuhns, is the Louisiana Bayoukeeper as well as running the Fishing Community Family Support Center. Her husband, Michael Roberts, is a fisherman and they live on Bayou Barataria where fishing is down for multiple reasons, one being...

David vs Goliath – Colombian community stands up to BP

Update on the workers and community struggle against BP at Casanare in Colombia: The USO oil workers are back at work and BP has agreed to negotiate, but community mobilisations continue:   Movements, particularly in the Global North, could probably learn from the Casanare struggle’s close alliance between BP workers and local community and environmental campaigners. The interests of...

Fishing in Rossport

This will be the first in a series of emails from my friend George who is in Rossport, County Mayo, Ireland, supporting the local community in their resistance to Shell’s plans to build a high pressure gas pipeline through their village. Martin O’Donnell is Pat O’Donnell’s brother, whose boat was sunk by masked thugs in June. Walking along the road...