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The Fracking & LNG Ghosts of Gas Addicted Germany (Part I of II)

by Andy Gheorghiu

Part I

Many folks around the world see Germany as a progressive “green energy“ country and think it has banned fracking. Unfortunately, both statements are untrue.

In October 2017, federal environment ministry calculations showed that – without further action – Germany would miss its 2020 climate target by a wider margin than previously anticipated (a drop in emissions of only 31 – 33 percent instead of 40 percent).

But instead of increasing desperately needed further actions, the current (and former) government watered down the 2020 emission reduction goal. Conservatives (CDU) and Socialdemocrats (SPD) now want to close the current gap “as much as possible” and reach the target “as soon as possible”.

However, it is simply beyond belief that this is anythiing but a spineless promise particularly if we take a closer look at Germany’s gas consumption.

“Gassy” Germany Beats “Green” Germany

 Despite its “green” image, Germany remains the biggest gas consumer in Europe. With almost 92 billion cubic metres (bcm) of consumption in 2017, fossil gas accounted for 24 percent in Germany’s primary energy consumption.

Continue reading “The Fracking & LNG Ghosts of Gas Addicted Germany (Part I of II)”

Fracked US LNG Torpedoes Ireland‘s Dreams of A Fossil-free Future

by Andy Gheorghiu

The Green Island is on a positive path towards a fossil-free future. However, things are far from perfect and the country might even miss the 2020 climate targets, which could force Ireland to pay fines of up to €600m.

But despite the hard economic struggles that the small and proud nation had to navigate through, Ireland made some real progress towards a sustainable, clean energy future.

Green Island banned onshore fracking and wants to divest from fossil fuels

In the Summer of 2017, the Ireland banned onshore fracking, enacting the best formulated fracking ban legislation in Europe. It doesn’t include “offshore” fracking, but Irish activists won’t stop until offshore fracking is also banned.

Previously, in January 2017, the Irish Parliament (Dàil) had voted in favour of divesting coal, oil and gas holdings from the €8 billion Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. The Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill is set to go to report stage ahead of the Dáil’s 2018 summer recess.

In April 2018, on Earth Day, a group of several Catholic institutions (including the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery and Sisters of Mercy, from the Northern Province in Ireland) announced a partial divestment from the fossil fuel industry – as did the Church of Ireland in May 2018. These developments should also encourage the Catholic Church of Ireland to do something against the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure in the country.

Continue reading “Fracked US LNG Torpedoes Ireland‘s Dreams of A Fossil-free Future”

Your Petition To ExxonMobil – the European Parliament MUST Act

ExxonMobil has lied about the facts of climate change for decades.

Ask the European Parliament to hold the oil and gas giant accountable for its disinformation campaign!

Send an email or tweet to the coordinators of the petition campaign:

Send an email to: [email protected]

Send an email to: [email protected]

Sample email: Subject: Support petition 0900/2016 – hold ExxonMobil accountable for its climate-change denial campaign

For half a century, ExxonMobil knows that its fossil fuel activities aggravate climate change. Nevertheless, the company decided to hide these facts and started a disinformation campaign. Today, oil and gas giant ExxonMobil is active in several EU Member States and among the biggest greenhouse gas emitters globally. While in the US an initially promising vigorous push to hold the corporation accountable was recently stalled, it is crucial that the issue is discussed at EU level. The EU has to protect its citizens and companies such as ExxonMobil have to be required to provide honest and transparent information – a request which is certainly not conflicting with freedom of speech.

I am asking you, a representative of the European Parliament, to take appropriate measures and do everything possible to convince ExxonMobil to act in line with the Paris Agreement and communicate the evidence of climate change appropriately.

Kind regards, ________

Tweet: Peter Jahr

Tweet: Beatriz Becerra

Sample tweet: #ExxonKnew about climate change since the 70s-yet they lied about it. @peter_jahr @beatrizbecerrab please support petition 0900/2016 on ExxonMobil during the upcoming Coordinators meeting and protect EU citizens from the #oil& #gas giant’s denial campaigns! #beyondgas #beyondoil

Do you want to know more about this issue?

Read about the ExxonMobil climate change denial campaign in our blog.

We Prevented a Bad Change to Environmental Law – For Now

Change to ASEA law would have enabled conflicts of interest in environmental monitoring of fossil fuel industry in Mexico

This is the translation of a blog written by the Mexican Alliance Against Fracking (Alianza Mexicana contra el Fracking), a coalition of 40 local, state and national organizations in Mexico advocating for a ban on fracking. Food & Water Watch is part of this coalition.

Thanks to the work of organizations supported by citizens and some lawmakers, we managed to prevent a legislative proposal that would have possibly enabled dangerous conflicts of interest in the environmental monitoring authority of the fossil fuels sector in Mexico.

Two weeks before the end of the last legislative session, the Committee on Environment and Human Resources of the Chamber of Deputies passed an amendment to change the Law of the National Agency of Industrial Security and Environmental Protection in the fossil fuel sector (ASEA). The Mexican Alliance Against Fracking (Alianza Mexicana contra el Fracking) set out to assess this proposal, then reported on the significant risks it posed.

With the passage of energy reform in Mexico in 2013, ASEA was created to follow environmental issues specific to fossil fuel development. This has meant that instead of Mexico’s federal environmental agency (Semarnat) plus the environmental attorney’s office (Profepa) that have traditionally been in charge of all environmental issues, Mexico now has ASEA that oversees drafting regulations and permitting, monitoring, and sanctioning oil and gas companies. This agency has been bad news for communities and great news for the industry, because all permits have been fast tracked. This agency has shown significant deficiencies, including a clear distance to communities affected by contamination through fossil fuel operations.

Continue reading “We Prevented a Bad Change to Environmental Law – For Now”

This Fracking Profiteer You’ve Never Heard of Is the Richest Man in the UK

Ineos CEO James Ratcliffe makes a fortune from fracking in the U.S. Now he wants to frack the UK—but community resistance is stopping him

The British media are buzzing about a big change at the top: The richest man in the UK, it turns out, is now a fabulously wealthy chemical CEO who tries to keep a low profile.

Jim Ratcliffe made it to the very top of the Sunday Times’ “Rich List” with a fortune of around $28 billion. Many of the stories about him point out that he is publicity shy and came from relatively humble beginnings, amassing considerable wealth all on his own.

But Ratcliff’s road to riches sounds pretty familiar: it was paved with risky corporate takeovers, a hostility to workers’ rights, and a willingness to cut corners on safety and violate environmental regulations the world over.

While he might be eager to avoid the spotlight, Food & Water Watch has been raising awareness about Ineos on both sides of the Atlantic. Ineos is a petrochemical giant that relies on fracking to provide the raw materials to create plastics around the world. The company has amassed a terrifying record of environmental and public health disasters—air and climate pollution, massive fires and other industrial accidents, and alarming emissions of carbon dioxide. He’s already benefitting from fracking in Pennsylvania, where communities are fighting the Mariner East 2 pipeline that would bring even more raw materials to the UK for Ineos to convert into plastics for profit.

But Ratcliffe wants more. His nightmare vision for the UK is to bring fracking to Scotland and England. The company holds valuable shale licenses and aims to start drilling in sensitive areas in both countries.

Continue reading “This Fracking Profiteer You’ve Never Heard of Is the Richest Man in the UK”

Dolphins or LNG tankers in the Shannon Estuary?

Have your say on the building of a huge fracked gas LNG terminal by May 13th.

Ireland banned fracking but Sambolo Resources wants to open one of Europe’s biggest projects to process fracked material in a Shannon Estuary nature reserve where whales and dolphins swim. Right now, they’re trying to renew planning permission with An Bord Pleanála – who have acted very strangely.

The proposed plant is called Shannon LNG and it is huge: the proposed final maximum regasification capacity of at least 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year would equal the European Union’s most ambitious gas project, the Southern Gas Corridor, and supply Ireland’s fossil gas needs twice over. Fracked hydrocarbons would be tankered in from the United States, processed and much of it then sent to Europe. This project is a game changer, especially in jittery Brexit times.

Continue reading “Dolphins or LNG tankers in the Shannon Estuary?”