Draft cover for “The Oil Road” arrives in office – what do you think?

The draft cover has arrived for Platform’s new book “The Oil Road”, due out with Verso in September. We’re gathering input from our circles and supporters. Would you pick this up in a shop? What are the three first words that come to mind when you see this cover? Please tweet us @platformlondon or email...

Exploring The Oil Road – Two Platform events in Bristol and London

There are two Platform events coming up which explore themes in our forthcoming book The Oil Road by Mika Minio and James Marriott, due out in September. The first event is a talk in the Bristol Festival of Ideas – What if we left the oil in the ground? Taking place at Arnolfini on Sunday 20th...
"The Oil Road" - in search of a subtitle

“The Oil Road” – in search of a subtitle

Platform has submitted a complete manuscript of “The Oil Road” to Verso; it’s gone to the copy-editors now and will be published in May (with a different cover!). But we’re still trying to pick a sub-title – do you have any suggestions? Here’s a blurb about the book, and we’ve copied some possible subtitles below....

Egyptian oil workers strike over conditions

Egyptian oil workers at the SUMED pipeline terminal on the Red Sea went on strike and protested demanding better employment rights this week, showing their power to slow the transit of crude from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. The striking workers help dock and unload very large tankers that use the SUMED Red Sea-Mediterranean pipeline...

Resistance to LNG across the Pacific Rim

The Oregon (US) based community campaign against the LNG Palomar gas pipeline has been building solidarity connections and investigating impacts of LNG projects elsewhere in the world. In their own words, “In the Pacific Northwest, NW Natural Gas claims that the Palomar pipeline and Bradwood Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal will bring “clean” fuel to the United...

Irish fisherman activist imprisoned for opposing Shell

For 11 years the people of County Mayo in Ireland have been resisting Shell’s efforts to develop a dangerous high pressure raw gas pipeline. Pat O’Donnell, a prominent local fisherman and anti-Shell campaigner defending his family and livelihood has been sentenced to 7 months in jail. Retired Maura Harrington was also convicted of charges including...

Turkmen environmentalist jailed as EU builds relationship with regime

Andrey Zatoka, environmentalist and civil society leader from Turkmenistan, was sentenced to five years in prison after being framed for assault in Dashovuz, Turkmenistan, on October 29, 2009. On October 20, 2009, Andrey Zatoka was arrested by the police in a Dashovuz bazaar, after he was attacked by an unknown man while buying groceries for...