Hi! I’m Antoine, the new campaigns intern at Food & Water Europe in Brussels. I started one month ago and the few things I have done so far, working on issues like factory farms and energy, have been very promising. But, first, let me introduce myself.
Archives: Blogs
By Mitch Jones
Earlier this month the Financial Times reported that a new climate change prediction market [subscription required] is being created in the United Kingdom. The market, similar to a sports betting book, is the “brainchild” of the financial firm Winton Capital. Initially, the market will allow bets on levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and on temperature rises, but Winton Capital hopes to expand it in the future so that sea level rise, extreme weather, and other pollution levels become the topic of bets.
What’s equally strange is that Winton Capital is paying for this market out of its philanthropic budget. There’s nothing philanthropic about betting on climate change.
This year again, a wave of people power will roll over the globe, showing that a just transition to a clean, democratic energy system is necessary – and possible!
Since 2013, Reclaim Power has united organizations from around the world to demand a profound change in our energy systems, stop harmful energy projects and cut money flows to dirty energy.
During the entire month of October 2017, events will be held and groups will demonstrate how widespread and strong worldwide mobilization against the current energy system is.
During this month of resistance and of united actions, Food & Water Watch and Food & Water Europe, both Reclaim Power partners, will again coordinate a global day of action against fracking – the Global Frackdown. On 14 October, various movements in different countries will state a clear NO to dirty fossil fuels extracted by the dangerous method of fracking.
To learn more about this coordinated day of action, visit globalfrackdown.org.
To learn more about Reclaim Power, go to http://www.reclaimpower2017.net/.
The Movement to Ban Fracking Is Growing
UPDATE: See photos from the 2017 Global Frackdown
The oil and gas industry is spending millions of dollars on slick public relations campaigns and high-profile lobbying efforts to buy the ability to extract fossil fuels from our communities with as little government oversight as possible. Yet public opinion continues to grow in opposition to fracking.
Since 2012, the Global Frackdown – an international day of action initiated by Food & Water Watch to ban fracking – has helped connect activists across the globe and demonstrated the growing power of the movement to stop fracking, gas infrastructure, sand mining and other related extraction methods. This movement is fueled by increasing scientific evidence of the impact of fracking on water, air, health, seismic stability, communities, and the climate on which we all depend.
Our Demands
We fight to:
- Stop fracking,
- Keep fossil fuels in the ground
- Put a halt on the expansion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade
- Prevent a further fossil lock-in through bad investments in oil and gas infrastructure.
By Tina Callebaut
During my last days as an intern here at Food & Water Europe I would like to take you on a tour of the many different victories against fracking in Europe. As drilling has started in Lancashire despite opposition from local communities, it is now more important than ever to stand together in solidarity to not only halt but prevent fracking projects everywhere by banning the technique and promoting the development of clean renewable energy. Here is a run down of the current state of fracking in Europe.
France
Let’s kick off our tour with a visit to France, where in March 2010, two exploration permits were granted for shale gas. The licenses covered in total an area of around 9.672 km². Massive protests followed, which led the Prime Minister at the time, François Fillon, to declare a moratorium on the exploration of shale gas in 2011, which prohibits the exploration and exploitation of liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons through hydrofracturing and cancels the exploration permits for projects where hydraulic fracturing would be used. France’s Constitutional Court confirmed the constitutionality of the ban and the revocation of the permits in October 2013.
Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, the law only prohibits the use of hydraulic fracturing, but does not impose a ban on the exploration or exploitation of gas through other techniques. As the technique is not clearly defined by the law, small changes and new innovations might already have the ability to circumvent this ban. However, in June 2017, the French minister of environmental transition announced that there would no longer be any permits granted for the exploration or extraction of hydrocarbons in France. Nice one, France!
The natural gas export boom is tied to the spread of fracking, an inherently dangerous activity that threatens public health and our climate.
By Mitch Jones
Originally published in Food & Water Watch
A new Short Term Energy Outlook released by the United States Energy Information Administration this week predicts that the U.S. will become a net exporter of natural gas this year and will remain so for the foreseeable future. That’s a remarkable turn of events given that the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the lower 48 states didn’t happen until February 2016. In addition to the existing pipelines for export of LNG to Canada, pipeline capacity for exports to Mexico are set to almost double by 2019. In addition, LNG export facilities are being expanded at Sabine Pass in Louisiana and Cove Point in Maryland is set to open later this year. Four additional facilities are currently under construction and expected to be exporting by 2020 when the United Sates is set to become the third largest exporter of LNG in the world.
The drive to ship natural gas overseas isn’t limited to LNG. The Mariner East 2 pipeline in Pennsylvania is being developed to export natural gas liquids for the plastics industry. The growth of the exploitation of fracked gas in the Marcellus Shale has been a boon for the plastics industry. It relies on petrochemical manufacturing to turn ethane, found in “wet” natural gas along with methane and other hydrocarbons, into plastics. Since 2012 chemical companies have aggressively invested in petrochemical plants and export facilities focused on profiting off the ethane glut that results from fracking.