Blog Categories: fossil fuels

Leak at Scottish Gas Plant Linked to Pennsylvania Fracking

Brussels/Washington, 3 May 2017 – Fracked gas from Pennsylvania has caused a public health scare in Scotland — more proof that the fight against dangerous drilling must be global.

At around noon local time on May 2, reports emerged of a major pipeline leak inside the Kinneil Gas plant in Grangemouth. The facility is owned by a company called Ineos, which has pioneered the use of so-called “dragon ships” to carry gas liquids like ethane and butane from Pennsylvania across the Atlantic Ocean to be used in plastics manufacturing.

Ineos is owned by anti-union billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, who calls these massive ships a “virtual pipeline.” His profiteering poses a threat to public safety in Pennsylvania by driving more fracking across a state already devastated by drilling. And it poses serious threats in Scotland too, as this incident makes clear.

While it is too early to determine the magnitude of this gas leak, powerful players in the United States — from the White House to the Energy Department to the office of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf–are pushing policies that will result in more drilling to serve the plastics industry. If they get their way, there will be more such disasters to come.

Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch and Food & Water Europe: “The leak at Grangemouth is a serious concern because it reminds us of the risks and recurrent incidents associated with our continuing corporate-directed reliance on fossil fuels. INEOS has pioneered transatlantic gas liquids shipments from Pennsylvania, which means more fracking and pollution in the United States and more plastics manufacturing pollution in Scotland. And all of that drilling brings us closer to climate chaos, which is why the fight against fracking must be global.”

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Contact: Andy Gheorghiu, Food & Water Europe, Fracking Policy Advisor, Food & Water Europe, +49 (0) 5631 50 69 507 (land), +49 (0) 160 20 30 974

No EU Money for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline

Statement by Food & Water Europe

 “We express our solidarity with the people from Melendugno and Salento regions of Italy as well as the No TAP committee who oppose the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline. The destruction of farmland, sensitive environmental sites and areas of importance for tourism makes the TAP a threat for communities not only in Italy but also in Greece and Albania.

“This project should not be considered a Project of Common Interest (PCI) and should not continue getting financial support with EU taxpayers’ money, nor should it enjoy further advantages of being a PCI.

“The EU cannot consider the TAP as a priority for energy security while EU gas demand is declining and the European gas infrastructure is already largely resistant to extreme disruption scenarios.

“European greenhouse gas emissions will need to be reduced by 80-95% by 2050 so carrying out this costly project that will remain there for decades is nonsense. It is not in the interest of Europeans to investing billions in a pipeline that clearly risks becoming a stranded asset.

“We need investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in line with European climate targets. Finally, limited public funds should not go into a pipeline that is supposed to bring gas from Azerbaijan, an authoritarian regime struck by corruption, to Europe, that urgently needs to phase out the use of fossil fuels.”

€200 bn Polluter Bonuses Unleashed by ETS Reform Proposals

February 15, 2017 — Today’s European Parliament vote on the reform of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) rubber stamps substantial new handouts to polluting industries and locks in a climate target far short of a fair EU share of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

The EU Parliament passed measures that represent around €200 billion in free pollution permits and additional funds for polluting industries, although the eventual value could be higher once the rules on continuing subsidies for the cement and other energy intensive sectors have been clarified.

Corporate Europe Observatory’s Oscar Reyes said:

“It looks like the EU Parliament is quite happy to prolong the welfare scheme for big polluters that has already failed to reduce emissions for too long. EU taxpayers will be the ones forced to pick up the bill for the heavy subsidies forked out to polluting industries.”

The vote also confirms a lack of ambition at the heart of the emissions trading scheme, which is the EU’s flagship climate policy tool.

Frida Kieninger of Food & Water Europe added:

“The 2.2 per cent annual reduction target is a shameful capitulation that is still far off the EU’s fair share of necessary climate action set out in the Paris Agreement.

“It is high time that the EU institutions realise that the ETS is not fit for purpose and scrap it in favour of more effective climate regulations.”

Notes to editors:

  • The EU Parliament voted on the ETS reform proposals and amendments listed here: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/plenary/en/report-details.html?reference=A8-0003-2017
  • The value of free pollution permits and ETS-linked funds will amount to around €198 billion between 2021 and 2030. This figure assumes an average carbon price of €25, and is broken down as follows: Free industry permits worth €135 billion, Innovation Fund €15 billion, Indirect Cost Fund €11 billion, Modernisation Fund €8 billion, Flexible Share €19 billion, New Entrants’ Reserve €10 billion.
  • This media reaction has also been endorsed by attac France.

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Fracking Legislative Package Enters into Force

Fracking torpedoes implementation of Paris Agreement on Climate Change
(German Version)

Berlin, 10 February 2017 — Today, one day before the German legislative package on fracking enters into force, environmental umbrella organization Deutscher Naturschutzring (DNR) – with its member organizations Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND), Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU) and Robin Wood as well as Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), Umweltinstitut München, PowerShift and Food & Water Europe – fears that now more fracking projects will be realized. They are particularly concerned that fracking in tight sandstone layers, so-called tight gas fracking, is explicitly authorized by the new legislation, and could even be permitted in otherwise protected areas. There are also loopholes allowing fracking for “research projects” in shale, clay, coal bed and marl rock formations.

With this fracking policy, the German government undermines its own goal of being a climate protection leader. At the same time more and more countries in Europe are deciding on fracking bans, the grand coalition in Germany is prolonging the fossil era and hampering the implementation of the Paris Agreement with this fracking legislation, adopted in June 2016. This is a devastating signal to the international community, particularly since Germany will be in the international spotlight, not only hosting this year’s G20 summit but also the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

“We need a clear ban on any kind of oil and gas fracking in order to reach the climate goals as adopted in the Paris Agreement. The German Government has to live up to its international promises and speed up the energy transition [Energiewende] instead of further relying on bygone ages by developing fossil fuels,” says DNR president Prof. Dr. Kai Niebert.

According to the environment protection and nature conservation organizations, it’s now also up to the German federal states to finally ban fracking. The legislative package allows federal state governments to veto research projects for fracking in shale, clay, coal bed and marl rock formations. By consistently identifying protected areas, federal states can moreover rule out tight gas fracking.

Contact:

Andy Gheorghiu, Food & Water Europe, Fracking Policy Advisor, Food & Water Europe, Tel.: 05631/5069507, Mobil: 0160/2030974, E-Mail: [email protected]

Daniel Hiß, DNR-Frackingexperte, Mobil: 0157/89203007, E-Mail: [email protected]

Ann Kathrin Schneider, BUND Leiterin internationale Klimapolitik, Tel.: 030/27586-468, Mobil: 0151/24087297, E-Mail: [email protected]

Sebastian Scholz, NABU Leiter Energiepolitik und Klimaschutz, Tel: 030/2849841617, Mobil: 0172/4179727, Email: [email protected]

Dr. Cornelia Nicklas, DUH, Leiterin Recht, Mobil: 0162/6344657, E-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Philip Bedall, ROBIN WOOD, Energiereferent, Mobil: 0160/99783336, E-Mail: [email protected]

Franziska Buch, Umweltinstitut München, Referentin für Energie und Klima, Tel: 089/30774917, E-Mail: [email protected],

Laura Weis, PowerShift, Fachpromotorin für Klima- & Ressourcengerechtigkeit, Tel.: 030/42085295, E-Mail: [email protected]

Fracking and the Food System

Categories

WaterFood

FoodandWaterEuropeFrackingFoodThe oil and gas industry likes to promote fracking as a boon to farmers and rural communities, but the dream often turns into a nightmare. In the United States, fracking has polluted water wells, sickened people and livestock, and reduced available farmland — proving that fracking and a healthy food system are not compatible.

As seen in the United States, the rapid expansion of oil and gas fracking has created significant environmental and public health problems.

DOWNLOAD PDF VIEW ON SCRIBD

Many of these problems are inherent to the practice and cannot be avoided through regulation, which is why fracking should be banned.

Find out more about why we need to:

  • Move past the false promises of the oil and gas industry
  • Invest in economic development in rural communities that safeguards our food and water
  • Develop policies that allow farmers to make a fair living farming on their land, rather than resorting to leasing their farms for polluting energy production.

Californian Food Products Irrigated With Oil Production Wastewater Might Arrive in Europe

Brussels, 8 August 2016 — A report by Food & Water Europe shows the worrying link between toxic oil production and what we eat and drink. Extreme oil extraction techniques produce millions of liters of toxic wastewater. In California, the oil industry has found a way to get rid of this wastewater by selling it to local public water agencies, which, in turn, sell it to farmers to irrigate crops. The EU is one of the main importers of Californian food products.

In Kern County, in California’s agricultural Central Valley, up to half the water used by farmers in one local water district is “produced”—that is minimally treated and diluted oil waste water— from nearby Chevron operations. Wastewater tested in California contained toxics like carcinogen benzene. Although the wastewater is treated, drilling chemicals can persist. No regulations specifically address the treatment of drilling wastewater in the U.S. state.

“The use of oil wastewater for agriculture is not properly regulated in California, said Frida Kieninger, campaign officer at Food & Water Europe. “We don’t have any data on the extent to which crops absorb the chemicals in the wastewater, or what the human health consequences might be. Producers are not even required to label food exposed to such irrigation. With so little information, Californian regulators are playing Russian Roulette with the safety of consumers”

California is among the top agricultural exporters in the U.S. About 80 percent of almonds consumed globally come from the Golden State and one-third of California’s almond exports are destined for the EU. Wine, pistachios, walnuts and raisins are also exported to EU member states, especially to Germany, Spain and the UK.

“Food imports from California make the issue not only of concern to Americans, but also to consumers globally ”, added Frida Kieninger. “The fact that food irrigated with toxic oil chemicals might end up on our plates and in our stomachs is completely unacceptable. European authorities must take action, especially in the context of the TTIP negotiations.”

Get the Report: Fracking and the Food System

Contact: Frida Kieninger, Campaigns officer, Food & Water Europe, +32 (0) 2893 1045 (land), +32 (0) 487 249 905 (mobile), fkieninger(at)fweurope.org