United Kingdom

Tiny Skytruth have been challenging BP's estimates on how much crude is spilling out of the Macondo well into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The organisation began analysing satellite & radar data soon after the Deepwater Horizon rig sank on April 22nd. BP initially claimed 1,000 barrels were spilling daily - after Skytruth pointed out that this was a ridiculous underestimate, the company revised the daily rate to 5,000 barrels.  Read more

As crude continues to pour into the Gulf of Mexico and Tony Hayward can't work out what he did "to deserve this", it turns out the company is having problems with offshore operations in the North Sea as well.  Read more

Tullow's controversial drilling in Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda continues to threaten wildlife and local communities' income, leading to increased opposition.
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Shell sponsor high-profile exhibition on climate change at Science Museum. Good thing?

Except that the exhibition backs down from the need for urgent action to deal with climate change. Chris Rapley, the museum's director, went as far as stating that “The Science Museum will not state a position on whether or not climate change is real, driven by humans or threatening.” A Reuters article covering the story was titled "London Science Museum goes climate science neutral".

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Tar sands extraction in Canada is devastating Indigenous communities, wildlife and vast areas of boreal forests, as well as being many times more carbon-intensive to produce than ‘conventional’ oil.

“We are seeing a terrifyingly high rate of cancer in Fort Chipewyan where I live. We are convinced that these cancers are linked to the Tar Sands development on our doorstep. It is shortening our lives. That's why we no longer call it 'dirty oil' but 'bloody oil'. The blood of Fort Chipewyan people is on these companies' hands.” -  George Poitras, former chief of Mikisew Cree First Nation  Read more

According to the FT, industrial action by 14 harbour pilots at Milford Haven later this week could seriously disrupt supplies of oil and gas to the UK. The port includes Exxon's RBS-financed South Hook LNG Terminal which imports gas from Qatar.

The story highlights yet again the importance of projects like Workers Climate Action.
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Unconventional shale gas has been discovered in the waters off Liverpool by IGas. Shale gas is natural gas lodged within shale rock, until recently largely inaccessible. Financial viability has increased with the expansion of hydraulic fracturing - "fracking" - the pumping of complex and polluting liquids into the rocks, to fracture them horizontally. This has led to major concerns across the US over water pollution. It's highly likely that to access the hydrocarbons off Liverpool, IGas will need to frack in the bay.  Read more

Dorothea Smartt (African Writers Abroad) joined the C Words closing Party and Benefit for the Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands Campaigners live via Skype. She performed her specially commisioned poem, A Sense of Denial, together with several other poems written specifically to the C Words season and inspired by the issues raised.

A Sense of Denial

Denial looks black, panelled, silver-edged
and gleaming. Car-washed in water
enough to quench a dying village’s thirst,  Read more

On 1st December PLATFORM's Agitpod mobile cinema will set off on it's return journey from Bristol to London, why not join us?  Read more