Oil – Page 12 – Earth First!

40 Climate Solidarity Actions Launch Worldwide to Defend Our Homes From Dirty Energy and Climate Change

UPDATE: Thursday, Nov. 15th – Four arrested for shutting down an American Petroleum Institute luncheon in New Orleans

Four protestors where arrested after a group of over a dozen shut down an American Petroleum Institiute luncheon in the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. Today’s action in solidarity with Tar Sands Blockade was in response to Hurricane Sandy and the newly approved Parkway Oil Pipeline that would endanger the cities beloved Lake Pontchartrain.

New Orleans residents understand what the impacts of climate change mean for the health and safety of their community. The climate super powered storm of Hurricane Sandy serves as an all too familiar reminder of the devastation these more frequent storms will bring to the most vulnerable families around the globe. Today over a dozen organizers marched in the streets and shut down the American Petroleum Institute luncheon to protest the source of this threat, Big Oil’s stranglehold on our economy and our livable future. They chanted: “No pipeline! No tar sands! No destruction of Louisiana land!”

UPDATE: Wednesday, Nov. 14th – Rising Tide Vermont shuts down a talk by a Shell Oil Executive

Nine members of Rising Tide Vermont interrupted a Shell oil executive last night while he was speaking on a panel about ‘Big Oil in the Niger Delta.’

Activists shared testimony from Niger Delta community members suffering the impacts of Shell Oil operations on their homeland. Shell Oil has a long-standing relationship with Nigeria’s various military dictatorships and has been implicated in the genocidal devastation of ecosystems and communities in the Niger Delta. They also read statements from members of communities in Nigeria, Alberta facing toxic tar sands extraction.

After the speaker was interrupted several times in a row, police were called and the event was cancelled/postponed. Many people who planned on attending left, and the voice of Shell Oil was successfully challenged and silenced. No one was arrested.

“This day kicks off a week of actions in solidarity with frontline struggles in the movement for climate justice,” said Avery Pittman. “From the oilfields of the Niger Delta, to the tar sands in Alberta, to the ongoing blockade of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline in east Texas, communities are resisting extreme energy and asserting their right to a healthy environment.” Read more here.

UPDATE: Wednesday, Nov. 14th – Climate Solidarity Action in the Philippines as part of Global Week for Climate Justice

Hundreds march through the streets of Manilla, Philippines toward the US Embassy to call for urgent action on climate change. Rising sea levels caused by climate change are a matter of survival for the thousands who live along the coastline of this island nation. Marchers connected the dots on climate change and other climate super powered storms like Hurricane Sandy with their signs. The march featured beautiful, theatrical street theater and giant puppets was organized by the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice as part of the Global Week for Climate Justice, which listed Tar Sands Blockade’s Mass Action on Monday the 19th as part of their global week of action.

UPDATE: Wednesday, Nov. 14th – Montana rallies to stop dirty coal exports and celebrate civil disobedience

Over 30 people gathered in Helena, Montana’s Constitution Park to support the venerable US tradition of civil disobedience. Immediately before an omnibus court hearing for the 23 people arrested during last August’s peaceful protests against coal exports at the Montana Capitol, the group gathered with signs reading “Support the Coal Export Action 23,” and “No More Coal Exports.”

Several people addressed the crowd, including some of the 23 who had been arrested in August. “I came to Helena, to my own statehouse and got arrested because it looks to me like there is no more time for writing reasoned letters to the editor or having meetings with the politicians,” said Linda Kenoyer, describing why she participated in last summer’s civil disobedience. ”The time has come to put my body on the line, to risk my safety and clean record if that’s what it takes to get someone’s attention.”

View more photos and read about the action on Coal Export Action’s blog.

Almost 40 climate solidarity events have sprung up across the globe as part of the week of action November 14-20! These actions are in direct response to the aftershock of Hurricane Sandy, closing out the hottest year on record and the ongoing ecological devastation of tar sands extraction.

Climate change continues to put a disproportionate burden on low income communities and communities of color around the world, and this weeks events highlight this struggle as locals rise up to defend their homes from climate chaos. These events serve as a reminder that we are part of a growing movement to demand climate action. Get ideas for your own local action here.

“Communities around the world are working together to expose the threat that the fossil fuel economy poses to families everywhere,” said Arielle Klagsbrun of Missourians Organizing for Empowerment and Reform. “As extractive industries grow increasingly desperate for profits, corporations like Peabody Coal and TransCanada are resorting to the most dangerous of energy reserves, like hydro-fracking, tar sands exploitation and mountain top removal coal mining.”

This week’s actions are happening in almost 40 locations including the following:

- Saturday, November 17 – Occupy Sandy and Stop Spectra Pipeline Coalition takes action to respond to the devastation of the climate super powered storm, Hurricane Sandy and put an end to hydro-fracking.
- Sunday, November 18 – Over 3,500 people rally at the White House to call on President Obama to reject the permit for the Keystone XL northern segment. Event organized by 350.org, Sierra Club, and other allies.
- Monday, November 19 – Dozens of community members rally in Nacogdoches, Texas to oppose the construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline from endangering their homes. Tar Sands Blockade will be taking nonviolent direct action to halt its construction.
- Monday, November 19 – Community organizations in St. Louis are taking action to target JP Morgan Chase for bankrolling the tar sands extraction. Event organized by Missourians Organizing for Empowerment and Reform and Climate Action St. Louis.
- Monday, November 19 – Residents of Salt Lake City are performing theatrical exhibitions outside The Bureau of Land Management for its approval of public lands for the first tar sands mine in the US. Event organized by Peaceful Uprising and Utah Tar Sands Resistance.
- Tuesday, November 20 – In London, UK Tar Sands Network, Rising Tide UK and others will protest a meeting of Canadian tar sands executives, banking industry representatives and government leaders meeting to discuss further expansion of Alberta tar sands extraction.
- More events are on the map in these locations: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada; Norman, OK; Charlotte, NC; Denton, TX; Eugene, OR; Middlesex, NY; Corvallis, OR; Seattle, WA; Fairfax, CA; Bridgeport, CT; Bloomington, IN; Burlington, VT; Helena, MT; Nashville, TN; Cincinnati, OH; Port Townsend, WA; Jefferson, NH; Santa Clarita, CA; Albany, CA; Burlington, VT; New Orleans, LA; Salt Lake City, Utah; Austin, TX; Eureka, CA; Portland, OR; Denver, CO; Minneapolis, MN; New York, NY; London, UK; Minisk, NY; Astoria, OR; Wilton, NH; Swarthmore, PA; Philadelphia, PA…and counting!

“It’s encouraging to see these solidarity actions spring up across the globe in response to the escalating devastation of climate change,” said Nicole Browne of Tar Sands Blockade, who helped put out the call for the solidarity actions. “From the Alberta tar sands to the forests of East Texas and all around the world, these actions give hope to people everywhere who are defending their homes from reckless energy extraction that is fueling climate chaos.”

Activists disrupt Shell greenwashing event

Rising Tide activists have invaded the stage tonight at a Shell-sponsored lecture at the Geological Society!

The title of the lecture – "Geological Aspects of Renewable Energy"; the *only* speaker – a Shell employee. Coincidence? Or perfect opportunity for serious greenwashing?

(The banner says – "Shell Tar Sands = 55 years First Nations treaty violations")

EF! Winter Moot 2013: 22-24th February, near Preston

A weekend get-together for people involved in ecological direct action, from fighting opencast coal, fracking, GM, nuclear power to road building. There’ll be discussions and campaign planning – with the emphasis on the tactics and strategies we use, community solidarity and sustainable activism.

Update: full transport details and programme at link below.

Wife of Gulf Coast Oilfield Worker Chains Herself to Keystone XL Pipeyard Gate

Drawing connections to all coastal communities threatened by toxic tar sands development, Cherri Foytlin, an indigenous South Louisiana mother of six and wife of a Gulf Coast oilfield worker, chained herself to the gate of a Keystone XL pipeyard. Effectively blocking pipe from being shipped to construction sites along the controversial pipeline’s route, Foytlin’s action coincides with the Defend Our Coast activities in British Columbia, where more than 60 Canadian communities are protesting a proposed tar sands pipeline through their region.

Yesterday the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation filed a legal challenge to Shell’s proposed expansion of the Jackpine Tar Sands Mine in Alberta, Canada. From It’s Getting Hot in Here:

“Following these projects, Council will continue on its six-day No Pipelines, No Tankers Speaking Tour, stopping in communities on or near the routes of the Pacific Trails, Enbridge Northern Gateway, and Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipelines.

” ‘The idea is to build solidarity between the different pipeline campaigns,’ says Harjap Grewal, Pacific Regional Organizer of the Council of Canadians. This includes campaigns to stop the pipelines at their source—in the Alberta Tar Sands and Fracking region in northeastern BC.”

Occupy the Pipeline activists in New York have been struggling against the Spectra Pipeline which will pump fuel hydraulically-fracked from Pennsylvania’s gas fields into New York City

Foytlin's arrest is the 32nd arrest since Tar Sands Blockade‘s actions began more than two months ago and today marks the 31st day of sustained protest at the Winnsboro tree blockade.

“This pipeline is a project of death. From destructive tar sands development that destroy indigenous sovereignty and health at the route’s start to the toxic emissions that will lay further burden on environmental justice communities along the Gulf of Mexico, this pipeline not only disproportionately affects indigenous frontline communities but its clear that it will bring death and disease to all in its path,” Foytlin declared.

Refusing to accept the Gulf Coast’s designation as the Nation’s Energy Sacrifice Zone, Foytlin, along with many Gulf Coast residents and indigenous activists are dismayed but not surprised to find the conversations regarding Keystone XL as a whole from national environmental groups to the Presidential campaigns have made little to no mention of the damage TransCanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline will heap upon Gulf Coast communities like Houston and Port Arthur, TX, where Keystone XL will terminate. Already overburdened with oil refineries and other dirty energy related industry, this neglectful attitude dovetails neatly with TransCanada’s reckless disregard for the health and safety of families in the refinery communities and elsewhere along the pipeline’s route.

The Rayne, Louisiana resident, who in the Spring of 2011 walked 1,243 miles from New Orleans to Washington DC as a call for action to stop the BP Drilling Disaster, has been a constant voice speaking out for the health and ecosystems of Gulf Coast communities.

She continued, “This fight is also about the personal freedoms given to us through the blood of all of our combined ancestry. Conservatives believe government is too big, that they are choking out our freedoms. The Occupy Movement believes corporations have kidnapped those same rights in the pursuit of profit over humanity. I believe both groups are right, and this pipeline and the use of eminent domain by a foreign company to seize and lay claim to American land, aided by the silence of the government, is an epic example of those truths.”

Tar Sands Blockade is a coalition of Texas and Oklahoma landowners and climate justice organizers using peaceful and sustained civil disobedience to stop the construction of TransCanada’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

“From the Pacific Coast to the Gulf Coast, Tar Sands Blockade acts in solidarity with all communities and indigenous people rising up to defend their homes from toxic tar sands pipelines. The refinery communities of the Gulf Coast have historically been and continue to be treated as collateral damage by industry and now landowners from Canada to Texas are learning that reality, too,” stated Ramsey Sprague, a Tar Sands Blockade spokesperson born in Houma, Louisiana to a Chitimacha family. “From start to finish, tar sands development only further endangers communities already at far greater risk for death and disease from toxic environmental exposure to human-made chemical pollutants than communities further away from the petroleum refineries and the unconscionable mining operations that define their origins.”

(Belgium) Brussels – Top executive ExxonMobil Nicholas Mockford shot dead

15/10/2012: BRUSSELS – Sunday night a top executive of the petro-chemical company ExxonMobil was shot dead in the street in Neder-over-Heembeek, near Brussels. Nicholas Mockford was shot in the head twice, when he and his wife were leaving an Italian restaurant around 22h. Witnesses saw two men running away carrying a motorcycle helmet.

The man died on the way to the hospital. His wife Mary was beaten and covered in blood. Police and DA’s office are saying that at this point they aren’t excluding any possibilities, from a hit to a carjacking gone wrong. Although the violence used appears to be disproportionate for a carjacking, especially knowing that the killers left the Lexus ATV behind.
Investigators are doing everything they can to locate the perpetrators. They are going through his work at his firm in the hope of finding a clue. ExxonMobil is the company that owns Esso, Mobil and Exxon gas stations.

Video: Canadian Minister and Shell embarrassed over tar sands at climate conference

Watch the Canadian Environment Minister and Shell's UK Chairman having their London conference speeches hijacked by our anti-tar sands stage invaders.

Watch the Canadian Environment Minister and Shell's UK Chairman having their London conference speeches hijacked by our anti-tar sands stage invaders. See conference delegates laughing as the minister is called "an agent from a rogue petro-state", and Shell's speech referred to as "world-class greenwash".

(USA) Tar Sands day of action – Over 50 Enter Tree Blockade in Defiance of Police Repression to Defend Tree-Sitters

WINNSBORO, TEXAS – MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2012 – Following a weekend of nonviolent civil disobedience training in North Texas by Tar Sands Blockade, many dozens of protesters and supporters are rallying today at the site of the largest and longest tree sit in Texas history to stage the largest walk-on site protest and civil disobedience in the history of Keystone XL pipeline construction. Several individuals are defending the tree sitters and the trees by locking themselves to construction equipment being used in proximity to the forest blockade. Solidarity actions are also taking place in Washington DC, Boston, Austin and New York City.

Altogether more than 50 blockaders are risking arrest to stop Keystone XL construction and bring attention to TransCanada’s repression of journalists attempting to cover the blockaders’ side of the story. They are joined by dozens of supporters who are rallying on public property with colorful banners and signs alongside the easement’s closest highway crossing. A massive media team is in tow to document the day of action and any possible police repression.

As the Winnsboro tree blockade enters its fourth week, the blockaders are resupplying their friends in the trees with fresh food, water, and cameras to further document their protest despite the threat of a newly-expanded Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) by TransCanada and egregious criminal overcharges by local law enforcement. Due to the SLAPP suits’ outrageous claims, the tree sitters have by-and-large felt too threatened to safely reveal their identities, despite their protest being nonviolent. That the defiant walk-on protest is the largest yet attempted in the history of protests surrounding Keystone XL construction sends a clear signal that the blockaders will not be deterred by SLAPP suits and other legal threats to limit their civil liberties.

“Three weeks is a long time to be sitting in a tree. The training I got this weekend has me ready to rise up and join the sitters in defending Texas homes from the toxic tar sands,” shared Glenn Hobbit, 28. “They’re saying we might get sued or worse, but stopping this pipeline is too important.”

Last week, the multinational corporation opened a civil suit in which it named 19 individual defendants, 3 organizations, and 6 anonymous tree sitters for a total of 28 defendants seeking an injunction, declaratory relief, and damages. All the named defendants are former arrestees of Tar Sands Blockade actions with the exception of media spokesperson Ron Seifert, who has yet been arrested in connection with a protest, and area landowner Eleanor Fairchild, who acted independently with activist and actor Daryl Hannah. Hannah was not named in the suit.

“In reality, Tar Sands Blockade is not trespassing on TransCanada’s property. Many of TransCanada’s easement contracts were brokered through fraud and intimidation, and their entire legal foundation is being challenged in the courts for those reasons,” explained Ron Seifert, Tar Sands Blockade spokesperson. “If anything TransCanada is trespassing on the property of landowners who never wanted anything to do with their dangerous tar sands pipeline.”

UPDATE 8:15AM – Supporters rally nearby to stop the pipeline.

UPDATE 8:20PM– A beautiful morning in what remains of our East Texas forest. TransCanada has clear-cut outside of their designated pathway and around the west side of the tree blockade leaving a muddy path of destruction in their wake.

UPDATE 8:35PM– Over 50 blockaders march through the woods toward the tree blockade

UPDATE 9:00AM – One blockader arrested after sitting down in the path of Keystone XL and refusing to leave.

UPDATE 9:06AM- Three blockaders have been arrested. We outnumber TransCanada’s police 3 to 1. Two blockaders have locked down to excavator equipment protecting the tree blockade.

UPDATE 9:20AM- Livestreamer @uneditedcamera (Lorenzo) has been detained and handcuffed, but they’re STILL STREAMING! Police are trying to flank groups of protestors. Watch the stream live NOW!

UPDATE 9:45AM- Small group of ground blockaders break through police line and enter tree blockade!

UPDATE 10:00AM- 4 arrests so far. Freelance journalist/livestreamer Lorenzo Serna has been released. The rally at the easement near the highway is going strong with chanting, singing and lots of colorful banners. TransCanada is barking orders at the police. We should have video and pictures soon.

UPDATE 11:00AM- Today’s first solidarity rally in Washington DC is beginning now outside the American Petroleum Institute!

UPDATE 11:10AM- 6 blockaders have been arrested at the Tree Blockade.

UPDATE 11:35AM- Picture from the DC solidarity rally. Over sixty people turned out over their lunch hour to stand with the Texas blockade and stop Keystone XL.

UPDATE 12:50PM-We have now confirmed that a 70-year-old woman participating in the blockade was thrown to the ground and tackled by TransCanada’s hired thugs. Video will be coming soon.

UPDATE 1:55PM – At least eight people have been arrested after walking onto the Keystone XL clear cut in defiance of recent repression. Two blockaders are still locked to huge excavator in the path of toxic pipeline.

UPDATE 3:20PM- Solidarity rally in Denton, TX has begun!

UPDATE 3:45PM– In case you missed it, Tar Sands Blockade was on Democracy Now! this morning. Our spokesperson Ron Seifert was joined by landowner Susan Scott and actress Daryl Hannah to discuss the blockade, TransCanada’s bullying and the SLAPP lawsuit against 21 people associated with stopping tar sands.

UPDATE 3:50 PM – Two blockaders who locked themselves to Keystone XL machinery have been arrested. A crowd of supporters stood by and cheered for as they were taken into police custody to the cheers. These two most recent arrests make eight total for the day.

UPDATE 4:00PM – Our first arrestee has been released without charges. He was arrested early this morning when he sat down in the Keystone XL’s pathway and refused to move. His defiant action helped delay police officers and allowed other blockaders to breach the police line and enter the tree blockade. After he was arrested he was made to lie face-down in the mud for several hours. He continued to refuse compliance with the police and siting health concerns had to eventually be removed on a stretcher. He was later released from the hospital without charges.

UPDATE 4:15PM- Solidarity photo in front of the TransCanada offices in Westborough, Massachusettes.

UPDATE 4:30PM -We’re getting sued!

As the Winnsboro, Texas tree blockade enters its fourth week, over 50 blockaders publicly demonstrated on the Keystone XL easement despite the threat of a newly-expanded Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) by TransCanada and egregious criminal overcharges by local law enforcement.

Due to the SLAPP suits’ outrageous claims, the tree blockaders have by-and-large felt too threatened to safely reveal their identities, despite their protest being nonviolent. Today’s defiant walk-on protest is the largest in the history of protests surrounding Keystone XL construction sends a clear signal that we will not be deterred by SLAPP suits and other legal threats to limit our civil liberties.

Apparently we’ve been causing some serious delays of Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

UPDATE 6:00PM- Six of the eight arrested today have been released from jail on charges of criminal trespass which is a class B misdemeanor. The bail was $1,500 each, a total of $9,000. The two blockaders who locked themselves to Keystone XL machinery will see a judge in the morning.

UPDATE 8:00PM– Today was our biggest day of action yet! More video and stories will be trickling out over the next couple of days as we try and wrap our heads around everything that happened today. In the meantime we have a ton of brilliant and beautiful photos that begin to tell the story. Check them out.

UPDATE 6:00AM – Read the excellent coverage about the blockade in today’s Washington Post.

On Monday, after a weekend of nonviolent civil disobedience training, supporters of the Tar Sands Blockade rallied in Winnsboro, Tex., where protesters were holding a “sit-in” 70 feet off the ground in a swath of trees. The trees stand in the middle of a corridor already cleared for the pipeline. The tree-climbing pipeline foes unfurled a banner that reads: “Rise Up and Defend Your Homes.”

“The only option afforded to powerless individuals who have been abused by the system is this tactic of nonviolent civil disobedience,” said Seifert, the Tar Sands Blockade spokesman. “Everything has been done to petition for justice at every level. And the institutions failed. This is a clear case of injustice, and it’s up to people to rise up and defend themselves.” Read the full story here.

UPDATE Oct 16th, 7:00AM – Watch our intense action video!

For further updates visit http://tarsandsblockade.org

(USA) Updates from Ongoing Tar Sands Blockade

A second treesit has been set up at the site of the Tar Sands Blockade in Texas; both sits are ongoing. In other news:

The tar sands blockade has successfully delayed construction of the pipeline for two days by locking themselves to construction machinery and shutting down the construction sites. There have been two successful blockades at construction sites in Livingston and Saltillo, Texas.
Transcanada surveyors were also prevented from preparing for construction when landowners and community members turned them away north of Winnsboro at an ongoing vigil to protect a local vineyard which will be destroyed if construction begins.
Two journalists working for the New York Times were handcuffed, detained and then turned away from private property by local law enforcement employed as private security guards for TransCanada.
Nevertheless, the New York Times still ran a front-page article about the Tar Sands Blockade, including the first tree blockade in Texas history.
On August 19th the Transcanada corporation officially began construction of the Keystone XL pipeline which will carry poisonous tar sands from Alberta Canada to the Gulf of Mexico despite overwhelming opposition from landowners and concerned residents, but a broad coalition called the Tar Sands Blockade is organizing to stop it.

Tar Sands Street Theatre Pictures

campaigners from the UK Tar Sands Network staged a dramatic piece of street theatre outside Chatham House. Conference attendees, including Peter Kent himself, were greeted by the disturbing spectacle of black-clad masked figures representing Canada and Shell literally ‘strangling’ climate activists. The campaigners handed out flyers and spoke to the conference attendees, questioning whether genuine solutions to climate change that would end our dependence on fossil fuels, promote climate justice and penalise highly-carbon-intensive companies could really be on the table for discussion at an event sponsored by Shell and featuring Peter Kent as a keynote speaker.

Activists disrupt speeches by Canadian Minister and Shell Chairman

Today at a high-level conference on climate change at Chatham House, London, two activists interrupted first Peter Kent, Canada’s Environment Minister, then Shell’s UK Chairman Graham van’t Hoff, as they got up to make speeches.

The first activist, Danny Chivers, accused Peter Kent of being a ‘dangerous radical’ and asked for him to be removed from the stage. The audience responded to the tongue-in-cheek speech – in which Kent was also referred to as an ‘agent from a rogue petro-state’ – with a mixture of laughter and heckling, and the protester was able to speak for several minutes before being removed by security.

During the intervention, Mr Chivers explained that Kent had clearly got into this climate change conference under false pretences. Far from being a leader on the issue, Kent is dedicated to promoting the highly destructive tar sands – despite the industry’s negative impact on local indigenous communities, and its potential to emit enough greenhouse gas to tip the world over the edge into runaway climate change. Kent also pulled Canada out of the Kyoto Protocol and his country continues to lobby fiercely against the inclusion of tar sands in the EU Fuel Quality Directive, which aims to reduce emissions from transport and has stalled as a result of Canada’s interference.

The second activist, Sophie Preston, then rose as Graham van’t Hoff was about to speak. She accused Shell – the sponsor of the event – of being a ‘world-class greenwasher’ whilst energetically lobbying against genuine national and international climate action. Shell is one of the largest operators in the tar sands and plans to double its production despite a legal challenge from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation who claim their treaty rights have been violated. She too was removed by security.

Earlier that morning, campaigners from the UK Tar Sands Network staged a dramatic piece of street theatre outside Chatham House. Conference attendees, including Peter Kent himself, were greeted by the disturbing spectacle of black-clad masked figures representing Canada and Shell literally ‘strangling’ climate activists. The campaigners handed out flyers and spoke to the conference attendees, questioning whether genuine solutions to climate change that would end our dependence on fossil fuels, promote climate justice and penalise highly-carbon-intensive companies could really be on the table for discussion at an event sponsored by Shell and featuring Peter Kent as a keynote speaker.

The protest follows a series of damaging revelations about how closely the Canadian government, oil companies such as Shell and BP, and some British politicians are working together to further the highly-polluting tar sands industry’s aims. Earlier this year the Fuel Quality Directive – a key piece of EU climate legislation that would discourage tar sands imports to Europe – stalled after intensive lobbying by Canada and the oil industry resulted in key member states, including the UK, not supporting it. Two weeks ago, Vince Cable, formerly Shell’s chief economist, was revealed to be ‘Contact Minister for Shell’ within the UK Coalition Government, following a Freedom of Information Request.

Danny Chivers, said ‘Inviting Peter Kent and Shell to speak at a climate change event is like asking the Cookie Monster and Homer Simpson to address a conference on healthy eating. We know that in order to have a chance of preventing runaway climate change, we need to leave the tar sands in the ground, yet Canada and Shell are intent on heavily promoting this insanely destructive industry. They are part of the problem and certainly should not be held up as experts in a discussion about effective climate solutions.’

Sophie Preston, who is a Climate Change and Policy student, said: ‘I have been to Canada and seen first-hand the devastating effects of tar sands oil extraction on the local environment and Indigenous communities whose rights are being violated. So I am very distressed to find that lobbying by Canada and Shell is now also scuppering attempts to make effective climate policy in the EU and internationally. Until it has halted all plans to expand the tar sands, Canada should be treated as a climate pariah, not invited to the table to skew the debate.’