Macdonald Stainsby

Oil Rich Gulf Co-operation Council Grows

dawn — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 05:06:40 +0000

Extreme extraction could prove to be the meaning of GCC membership for Morocco and Jordan

AMMAN, Jordan--The Arab Spring sent shock waves through the regimes of the Middle East and North Africa, and in the face of demands for popular accountability alongside bread and butter issues, states throughout the region have devised strategies to try and avert popular upheaval.

en lire plus

Extreme Extraction

dawn — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:24:39 +0000

Oil production plans could reshape Morocco's economy and environment

RABAT, MOROCCO-- Many well-known voices trying to address the climate crisis on a global scale have posited that less developed countries without a full-blown industrial base can skip industrialization all together and transition away from fossil fuels.

en lire plus

Oil in the Desert

dawn — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:49:13 +0000

Will water be sacrificed to oil in Jordan?

AMMAN, Jordan--In March of 2011, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan jumped headlong into unconventional oil extraction, and signed a deal with Karak International Oil (KIO), a subsidiary of Jordan Energy and Mining Limited (JEML--a British company) for the commercial mining of oil shale approximately one hour’s drive from the capital of Amman.

en lire plus

Apartheid Oil

dawn — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 09:04:15 +0000

Crude trapped in shale could transform Israel into energy powerhouse

JERUSALEM-- Major offshore gas strikes in 2009 and 2010 may soon convert converted Israel into a gas exporting country with self-sufficient energy. But perhaps more important than the gas under the sea is the mock crude trapped in husk dry sands and rock hard shale, reserves which could push Israel into the upper echelons of recoverable oil on the planet.

en lire plus

Vigil for Vittorio Arrigoni in Amman, Jordan

Macdonald — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:02:23 +0000

On April 14, 2011 Salafi Jehadis kidnapped Italian journalist and solidarity activist Vittorio Arrigoni and demanded the governing Hamas forces release one of their militants in 30 hours or they would execute him. Arrigoni, a member of the International Solidarity Movement, lived through Israel's entire Operation Cast Lead alongside Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

en lire plus

Devastation, Madagascar

Macdonald — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:17:12 +0000

France's Total and US based Madagascar Oil tangle with military governments to push tar sands projects forward

Total's proposed tar sands operation in Madagascar is potentially the dirtiest mining operation its kind in the world, in a region where the local people have few options but to live next to it.

en lire plus

Greenpeace Greenwash

dawn — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:53:26 +0000

Greenpeace International hires torchbearer Tzeporah Berman as chief climate campaigner

As the world turned their attention to the spectacle of the 2010 Olympics, Greenpeace International played another kind of game, appointing Tzeporah Berman as their new energy and climate campaign director. As a result, she will inherit their “Stop the Tar Sands” campaign and take responsibility for 110 Greenpeace climate campaigners in 28 countries.

en lire plus

Foundation funding of environmental groups leads to diminished transparency, accountability: New report

dru — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:31:16 +0000

Offsetting Resistance: The effects of foundation funding from the Great Bear Rainforest to the Athabasca River

-- For immediate release --

-> Download the report at http://www.offsettingresistance.ca

A movement is building to shut down the tar sands, one of the most
destructive projects in human history. Decisions are being made about
the strategies that will be used and the goals that will be pursued.

But as the number of people opposing the tar sands grows larger, the
number of people making the crucial decisions is getting smaller --
and closer to the oil and gas industry.

A small, secretive group of insiders has been collaborating with large
American foundations and industry to concentrate decision-making power
concerning anti-tar sands campaigns. Headed by Michael Marx, one of
the architects of the Great Bear Rainforest deal in northwestern
British Columbia, these groups have a track record and a documented
trail of funding relationships that steer them--whether they intend to
or not--into closed-door, backroom deals with industry and government.

The lack of transparency, the absence of any democratic structures,
the questionable sources of funding, and the track record of these
corporate and foundation-funded Environmental NGOs are the subjects of
a new report by Macdonald Stainsby and Dru Oja Jay. Offsetting
Resistance: The effects of foundation funding from the Great Bear
Rainforest to the Athabasca River examines the role of ForestEthics
and other Environmental NGOs in the Great Bear Rainforest deal and in
the Northwest Territories Protected Areas Strategy. From there, it
reveals the hidden structures behind the emerging "North American Tar
Sands Coalition," which seeks to keeps its decision-making body
"invisible to the outside," while funnelling millions of dollars to

en lire plus