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Local Groups were out petitioning nationwide today: "We call on the
Prime Minister to prevent climate change, by stopping new oil
exploration in the Atlantic Ocean and investing in clean energy such as
solar electricity".
BP had a full page ad in Friday's (18th) Glasgow Herald tying the West
of Shetland development to thousands of jobs.
Sarah Burton replied to Mr Dawson, the Manager of BP's Foinaven Business
Unit today. She stated: "Firstly, thank you for confirming that you
represent the Foinaven Business Unit alone and not the whole of BP
either in the UK or internationally. Some of your previous statements
had led me to believe otherwise. I am grateful for the clarification.
One of those statements was your contention that BP's production would
be declining and that opening new oilfields in the Atlantic Frontier
would only slow down that decline. This is in contradiction to the
statement made in BP's Annual Report that the company intends to grow in
production by 5% per annum. You were clearly referring merely to the one
aspect of the company's fossil fuel extraction business for which you
are responsible." Sarah also points out that "the basic and important
question at issue between BP and Greenpeace is about the effects your
products (oil) have on the climate. This is why Greenpeace has already
challenged BP to a public debate on this vital issue".
Sarah Burton writes to Mr Dawson again in reply to his invitation to
visit the FPSO Petrojahl Foinaven. Sarah says that due to prior
commitments she is unable to visit but proposes that Simon Reddy attend
in her place. A piece from today's press release regarding the rejection of our 17th Round application: "In a letter to Ian Lang, the President of the Board of Trade, Greenpeace has today asked that he suspend the licensing process pending the EC's investigation. As an alternative to this he can make conditions forcing the oil companies to comply with the Directive before they take any further steps in the area or before he gives them consent to a work plan. The licences are conditional upon the consent of the Minister to the work plans. In addition to pursuing the EIA complaint, Greenpeace has identified a second way in which the UK Government appears to be breaching EC and UK environmental protection laws. According to Greenpeace, the European Habitats Directive requires that full consideration be given to the impact of exploration and drilling on specific habitats including coral reefs. Greenpeace has asked for specific information about what consideration the DTI gave to the Atlantic Frontier's slow growing coral, believed to support an ecosystem as diverse in its species as the rainforests." Also, Mr Dawson replies regarding visiting the FPSO: "WITH REGARD TO THE POSSIBILITY OF SIMON REDDY, PERHAPS WITH A COLLEAGUE, VISITING THE VESSEL, I WOULD LIKE TO INCLUDE THEM WITH A LARGER GROUP OF INTERESTED PARTIES THAT I INTEND TO TAKE OFFSHORE IN DUE COURSE." That's all this week. Janice.
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