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13 Sep 2000
Prime Minister Tony Blair should not be lobbying OPEC oil exporting countries
to increase production, Friends of the Earth said this morning.
Mr Blair is meeting oil company bosses at Downing Street. Following his statement yesterday, he is expected to call for OPEC countries to increase world oil output to reduce global oil prices.
More oil production would increase emissions of carbon dioxide, the principal cause of dangerous climate change. FOE calculations show that burning the recent 800,000 barrel a day increase in oil production for a whole year would create an extra 128 millions tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. That is equivalent to almost a quarter of the UK's current annual emissions.
Oil company collusion in the petrol tax protests seems to be part of a wider strategy to undermine the key world climate talks in the Hague this November. These talks could be the last chance to rescue the “Kyoto agreement” signed in 1997, the only international agreement to cut climate change gases. Esso, Texaco and Shell, all former members of the Global Climate Coalition, have a long history of campaigning against any action to fight climate change. The GCC and American oil giants are big US political funders and have so far prevented the Kyoto agreement from being ratified by the US Congress.
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Charles Secrett, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth said:
“Burning oil is wrecking the global climate. Millions of people across will be killed or made homeless in storms, floods and other weather disasters if the Global Climate Coalition and its oil copany backers get their way.
“Burning more oil is not the answer to the current crisis. Tony Blair should be defending fuel taxes - they encourage efficient use of scarce resources, protect the environment and raise money that can be spent on public transport.”
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
Media team
