From the Guardian
Gulf oil spill: A hole in the world

The Deepwater Horizon disaster is not just an industrial accident – it is a violent wound inflicted on the Earth itself. In this special report from the Gulf coast, a leading author and activist shows how it lays bare the hubris at the heart of capitalism.

Fault Lines - In Deep Water: A Way of Life in Peril

In the two months since the Deepwater Horizon explosion, millions of litres of oil have gushed out of BP’s well into the water each day, slowly encroaching on the coastline. Fault Lines’ Avi Lewis travels to the drill zone, and learns about the erosion in the wetlands from industry canals and pipelines, the health problems blamed on contaminated air and water from petrochemical refineries.

The Rain Forest Action Network dropped a 70 foot banner over Niagara Falls as a call to action and message to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during his first official visit to the White House.

Environmental activist network argues that the oil industry might be approaching a tipping point from fall in the price, advances in technology and policies on climate change.

A long-term decline in the demand for oil could undermine the huge investments in Canadian tar sands, which have been heavily opposed by environmentalists, according to a report published today.

The report, by Greenpeace, will make uncomfortable reading for the companies that are investing tens of billions of pounds to exploit the hard-to-extract oil in the belief that demand and the price would climb inexorably as countries such as China and India industrialise.

Citing projections from the oil producers’ cartel Opec and the International Energy Agency, as well as various oil experts, the report casts doubt on the conventional assumption that consumption and prices will begin gathering pace once the world pulls itself out of recession.

Read more

Please, somebody get this documentary to President Obama and every lawmaker across the country!

FUEL is an insightful portrait of America’s addiction to oil and an uplifting testament to the immediacy of new energy solutions. Director, Josh Tickell, a young activist, shuttles us on a whirlwind journey to track the rising domination of the petrochemical industry—from Rockefeller’s strategy to halt Ford’s first ethanol cars to Vice President Cheney’s petrochemical company sponsored energy legislation — and reveals a gamut of available solutions to “repower America” —from vertical farms that occupy skyscrapers to algae facilities that turn wastewater into fuel. Tickell and a surprising array of environmentalists, policy makers, and entertainment notables take us through America’s complicated, often ignominious energy past and illuminate a hopeful, achievable future, where decentralized, sustainable living is not only possible, it’s imperative.

www.TheFuelFilm.com

Violence and kidnappings in the Niger Delta are triggered by decisions made inside multinational oil company boardrooms in far away lands. These interventionist activities in turn affect the global price of oil. It is no less a symbiotic relationship than any other.

Armed men in speedboats have abducted a Romanian crew member after an attack on an oil tanker off Nigeria’s southern coast, security sources say.

The MT Meredith, loaded with 4,000 tonnes of diesel, was badly damaged in the attack early on Wednesday.

“The ship called for assistance as its engine and superstructure were reported to have been seriously damaged,” a private security source, who asked not to be named, said.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), which wants greater autonomy for the region, claimed that an “affiliate group” carried out the attack.

Read more