Mass environmental justice uprising engulfs Damietta on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast
Blog post -
Nov 15, 2011
The popular movement against a Canadian petrochemical plant has forced the Egyptian government to shut down the Agrium-Mopco gas-fertiliser factory, after residents shut down highways, bridges and a deepwater port, and battled the Egyptian military in the street. Grainy photos and video-clips tweeted out – especially by Al-Jazeera’s @Mansourtalk – show locals standing up to...
European Commission proposes increase in powers to control energy resources abroad; Libya next on the agenda
Blog post -
Sep 15, 2011
The European Commission has for the first time submitted proposals for a concerted public foreign energy policy – termed ‘External Energy Policy’ within Euro circles. The EU has been acting collectively to control oil & gas resources and transit routes for many years – financing pipelines with public funds, lobbying for access to African, Middle...
Oil, British foreign energy policy and Middle East repression
Blog post -
Feb 24, 2011
British oil interests are tightly interlinked with our governments’ recent political and military support for Gaddafi’s regime. Libya’s oil reserves – the largest in Africa – long had Western companies drooling. Shell beat its competitors to the chase, signing a $1 billion gas contract in 2004 during Tony Blair’s first visit to Libya. After three...
Terrible timing: BP announce drilling plans during Libyan “Day of Rage”
Blog post -
Feb 21, 2011
In the morning of Thursday 17 February, Libyan protestors responding to a callout for a Day of Rage began to fill the streets in Benghazi and other major cities. Over a hundred demonstrators had already been shot and wounded in previous days, but now the people broke through the barrier of fear. A crackdown ensued, with police...
