This and that for your Thursday reading. – Umair Haque discusses the absurdity (and manufactured idiocy) that results in us continuing with extractive business as usual as we enter a palpable age of extinction. And Richard Eskow writes about the reasons why billionaires can’t tolerate the prospect that most people
Continue readingTag: shell
Views from the Beltline: The greening of big oil
A headline in The New York Times caused me to do a double-take. The headline read “Shell, the Oil Giant, Will Sell Renewable Energy to Texans.” The term “renewable energy” nestled between “oil giant” and “Texans” seemed more than a little discordant. But all was in order. Shell is indeed
Continue readingThings Are Good: Dutch Climate Lawyer Wins Dresden Peace Prize
Yes, a lawyer won a peace prize. Roger Cox, a Dutch climate lawyer who took on Shell, has been awarded the 2022 Dresden Peace Prize for winning a case that inspired similar cases around the world. On behalf of Friends of the Earth, Cox won a ruling in a Dutch
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: The pecten transitions
All those years ago when I earned my keep in the oil patch, I was fortunate to toil for Shell Canada. I was paid well, enjoyed generous benefits and excellent training opportunities, progressed successfully and made lifetime friends. Furthermore, I always felt I worked for a responsible company, including environmentally.
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Shell bails on the tar sands
I read with interest Royal Dutch Shell’s decision to sell sell most of its stake in Alberta’s tar sands. It brought back memories. I toiled for Shell Canada during my days in the oil patch, now a long time ago, and the last project I worked on was in the
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Shell bails on the tar sands
I read with interest Royal Dutch Shell’s decision to sell sell most of its stake in Alberta’s tar sands. It brought back memories. I toiled for Shell Canada during my days in the oil patch and the last project I worked on was in the tar sands. Shell was a
Continue readingAlberta Politics: OMG! Energy industry faces ‘existential threat’ from Hollywood, ‘ever-growing matrix of activists’
PHOTOS: Brad Wall, increasingly the Mr. Disagreeable of Confederation. Below: Calgary’s Glenmore Reservoir as dreamed of by supporters of the Saskatchewan Party of Alberta. Actual Calgary beaches may not appear exactly as illustrated, either with reg…
Continue readingThings Are Good: Shell Stops Efforts to Drill in the Arctic
For a while now Shell has been trying to suck oil in the arctic. Arctic drilling is extremely dangerous and Shell’s efforts in the north have been ridiculed by Greenpeace. Greenpeace’s efforts have been matched by a ton of organizations (mostly on the west coast) also trying to stop Shell’s
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Enemy Within. At Some Point You Have to Take Sides.
Don’t waste your breath. It’s futile to try to work with energy giants on environmental issues at least according to one of Britain’s leading environmentalists, Jonathon Porritt, who has thrown in the towel after years of trying to work with companies such as BP and Shell. Jonathon Porritt said “hydrocarbon supremacists”
Continue readingThings Are Good: Rockefellers Got Rich From Oil, Switching to Renewables
As the UN climate summit continues there is good news coming from it. It’s worth noting that Canada is not part of any of this good news thanks to the climate-change denying Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The “pro-corprate” Harper is actively doing the opposite of corporations: supporting renewable energy. Even
Continue reading350 or bust: LEGO: Everything is NOT Awesome
Via Greenpeace International: Shell’s global advertising deal with LEGO is part of a carefully thought-out strategy by Shell to buy friends who can make its controversial Arctic drilling plans look acceptable and misleadingly associate it with positive values. LEGO is one of the most beloved and admired toy companies in
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: The Ukraine Crisis – It Is All About Control of Oil and Gas
Cold War propaganda has been ratcheted up considerably as the US continues its efforts to gain control and influence in the region that began a decade ago. Exxon, Shell and Chevron have invested heavily. Much of the western media has been unquestionably advancing the side of goodness and light (
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: More Clever Climate Change Awareness Actions!
…Burning oil caused the melting in the first place… A week ago [was it that long?] two climate change activists pulled a Yes Men on our greatest employee, Mr. Stephen Harper. But last summer, you may not have seen an equally clever, but more hi-tech, stunt by Greenpeace’s Save the
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive | News & Analysis: Despite risk to marine ecosystem White House reaffirms commitment to Arctic drilling
As US renews pledge to drill in Arctic waters, Greenland places moratorium on new leases By: Lauren McCauley | Common Dreams: A White House official reaffirmed Wednesday the Obama administration’s commitment to the Arctic offshore drilling program despite the “dangerous risk” of catastrophic consequences for the pristine marine ecosystem. Speaking via video
Continue readingEarthgauge Radio: EG Radio February 7 2012: Liveable Ottawa | Shell oil rig Alaskan disaster
Download: earthgauge-podcast-feb7-2013.mp3 This week on Earthgauge Radio, we’re talking about the Shell drilling rig that ran aground near Alaska’s Kodiak Island at the end of December and we discuss the City of Ottawa’s “Liveable Ottawa” plan. We also have a special guest editorial from Grist.org columnist David Roberts who will
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Delaware Tax Haven: The Other Shale Gas Industry Loophole
shutterstock_30322192.jpg Most people think of downtown Houston, Texas as ground zero for the oil and gas industry. Houston, after all, serves as home base for corporate headquarters of oil and gas giants, including the likes of BP America, ConocoPhillips, and Shell Oil Company, to name a few. Comparably speaking, few would think of Wilmington,
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: How Do You Spend $375 Million A Day? Ask The Oil Industry
oil-money.n.jpg The average U.S. household has seen both their net worth and their average income steadily decline over the last seven years. Unemployment in the United States still remains at uncomfortably high levels, and the poverty rate is about to reach highs that haven’t been seen since the 1960’s. But
Continue reading350 or bust: Saturday At The Movies
From The Post Carbon Institute comes this catchy video, We Quite You, Keystone XL (It’s Not Us, It’s You): * Until we show fossil fuel companies that we’re ready for something new, pipelines like Keystone XL are going to keep coming back like an ex-boyfriend who won’t get the hint.
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Breaking Up With Keystone XL and Dirty Energy – It’s Not Us, It’s You [Video]
Screen Shot 2012-07-24 at 2.27.06 PM.png This is a guest post by Heather Libby. A new video from the Post Carbon Institute pokes fun at the Keystone XL pipeline’s tendency to reappear no matter how very little we want it around – much like an ex-boyfriend who won’t get the
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