The G8 is coming. The leaders of the world's 8 richest countries will soon gather in Scotland, hoping to carry on carving up the planet. We forecast a high tide of greenwash in the run-up to the summit, as Tony 'Hot Air' Blair claims to be making climate change a top priority. It looks like it's up to us to unmask the G8 Climate Criminals and expose the hypocrisy of their agenda.
Welcome to the new Rising Tide UK website! It's long overdue, but we've finally overhauled the way this site works, so any group in the Rising Tide UK network can post news and updates, a bit like how Indymedia works. Although it looks similar to the old site, a lot has changed behind the scenes, including a focus on web standards to make the site more accessible. Hopefully this means loads more up to date, exciting info on climate action that's going on around the UK. It definitely means some less stressed webby volunteers.
For the past 3 years, oil & gas giant Shell International have been running roughshod over local communities on the north west coast of Ireland and are poised to transform a remote conservation area of outstanding natural beauty into an environmental disaster zone with serious public health & safety implications.
There has been, and still is, a long saga ongoing in the courts and planning appeal process. In April, Shell was granted a temporary injunction after local farmers stopped them from entering their lands.. The farmers were referred to as trespassers during the proceedings. The arguments of the defendants showed up the arrogance of a multinational in pursuit of its profits.
Road Block - alliance against road building
"The recent fuel protests are misguided and short sighted" say anti-roads alliance, Road Block. Fuel duty has actually been frozen since 2000, and high oil prices are outside the Government's control. The Government should refuse to be bullied, and stand by its commitments to urgently reduce carbon emissions by raising the duty on fuel immediately.
Rebecca Lush of Road Block said:
One activist will spend a third night in the tree-tops opposite BP's corporate headquarters, in protest at the greenwashing of the company's environmental and social record.
Outfoxing police and BP security, eight London Rising Tide activists took to the trees in St. James' Square at dawn on Tuesday April 26th. They occupied two trees throughout the day, hanging a massive banner reading "BP FUELS CLIMATE CHAOS" opposite BP office workers' windows.
On his return to terra firma, Sam Sutherland, one of the climbers, commented,
In Bed With the Killers
By George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian 3rd May 2005
It all seems a very long way away. But what is happening in an obscure island nation in the South Pacific has now become our business. A few weeks ago, BP, the British company which has invested most in "corporate social responsibility", received final approval to start developing a gas field in West Papua, the western half of the island of New Guinea.(1) There is nothing unusual about this: oil and gas companies are opening new fields all the time. What makes this operation interesting is the question of whether BP has any right to be there.
Outrage over CEO's conduct at shareholder meeting.
Chevron CEO O'Reilly reports record oil profits, then shuts down microphone on Ecuadorian Indians and local Rabbi. After traveling days from rainforest, Carmen Perez finds out she can't speak. Reaction follows move by CALPERS and Alan Hevesi to force changes in Ecuador policy. California controller calls for review of O'Reilly's handling of $6 billion litigation.
In a bid to add muscle to claims of being a 'green force', many vanloads of London's Metropolitan Police will be present at BP's Annual General Meeting from 10.15am on April 14th. They will be joining forces with little-known group the Greenwash Guerrillas to ensure that the public are kept out of the newly-renamed Oil Festival Hall[1] during BP's Annual General Meeting.
Police arrested two protesters at a noisy demonstration protesting the climate policies of G8 ministers meeting today in the City of London.
About 40 activists beat pots and pans and blew whistles to demonstrate their opposition to G8 climate policies, arguing that they served the interests of big business rather than the world's poor likely to be most affected by global warming...
POTS AND PANS NO!SE DEMO! – meet 12 noon
The International Roundtable of Energy and Environment Ministers is meeting in London on the 15th of March 2005. Show these ministers and the world at large that we won't let the climate go to pot.
On 15th March, in the build-up to the G8 Summit in Scotland which will take place in July this year, the Labour Government will share its future vision of market environmentalism with 20 countries (including the G8 themselves) at the International Energy and Environment Ministers Roundtable.
So will they practice what they preach?
