For all you romantic film-buffs out there, this week-end’s Oscars is a fight between an ex-husband and wife partnership: James Cameron’s Avatar and Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt locker. Those rooting for Avatar include a collation of 50 Indigenous and environmental groups who yesterday ran a great advert in the celebrity magazine Variety. Called ‘Canada’s Avatar … Read More
greenwashing
We’re All Going on a Summer Holiday … to the Tar Sands
As much of the Northern Hemisphere remains cold, or if you live in Washington DC blanketed in deep snow, thoughts of a warm Summer holiday spring to mind as something to look forward to. Where shall we go? Most people think of heading to the beach to soak up the sun and relax. Others head … Read More
Lord Browne Reveals All
So the most iconic oilman of his generation, Lord Browne, has finally published his memoirs of his time at BP in a book called “beyond business”. Whilst most of the reviews so far concentrate on him being gay and his fall from grace, we also get glimpses of the power of oil and what it … Read More
Now BP Faces Shareholder Revolt Over Tar Sands
Last month a group of pension funds and asset managers filed a resolution asking Royal Dutch Shell to reconsider its controversial involvement in the dirty tar sands. And now the investors are targeting BP asking it not to invest a massive $10 billion in its Sunrise tar sands development.
The Angry Mermaid Strikes Back
All the news reports this morning are that a deal at Copenhagen is dead. Barack Obama has said that we had run out of time to secure a deal in December. This will please the corporate lobbyists no end. The longer they can delay action on climate the better. But now Copenhagen’s iconic mermaid is … Read More
Peter’s Second Problem: Shell Climate Crimes Exposed
When Peter Voser (on the right of the photo) takes the helm of the oil giant Shell on Wednesday, he might just start beginning to wonder what a complete mess he has inherited from his predecessor, van der Veer (he’s on the left). This mess is graphically illustrated in a 32 page devastating critique of … Read More
Shell Worried Ogoni PR was “Green Imagery”
It’s not often that a company’s public relations strategy is laid bare for all to see. It’s very rare that these most sensitive of company documents – the ones that talk of using the dark arts of persuasion – ever see the light of day. But occasionally it happens. It did with big tobacco when … Read More
Fossil Fuel Lobby’s $45 Million Propaganda Campaign
You really did not expect them to lie down and roll over without a fight did you? Yesterday we highlighted how the sceptics were gearing up for one last push to undermine the science of climate change. Today its the turn of the oil and coal companies who are pouring millions into scuppering the Democrat’s … Read More
Shell Bottom of Emission Disclosure Ratings
For a decade now – since Ken Saro-Wiwa’s death and the Brent Spar fiasco – Shell has done its utmost to portray itself as a green oil company. It hasn’t quite gone to the lengths of its rival BP and completely rebranded its logo, but it has spent millions of dollars trying to change perceptions … Read More
Nuclear Spin Doctors Win As Greens Go Pro-Nukes
Earlier this month, the crème of the nuclear industry spin doctors gathered in Edinburgh in Scotland at the posh Sheraton Hotel. The event, known as PIME 2009, is where they outline their public relations techniques as to how to try and sell a dangerous, expensive and dirty fuel as green, clean and climate friendly.