BP will be involved in the "greatest climate crime" in history by backing tar sands projects to extract oil in Canada and is likely to face direct action, Greenpeace warned last night.
The threat came as state officials in Alaska confirmed they were preparing a civil law suit against BP for the Prudhoe Bay oil spill when 200,000 gallons of crude were released into the wilderness.
The Greenpeace warning followed BP's announcement on Wednesday that it was buying into the tar sands schemes through a deal with Husky Oil, reversing a decision by former chief executive John Browne to stay away from an expensive and environmentally dirty business.
The two companies have agreed to swap certain assets, allowing BP to buy into Husky's Sunrise tar sands project and jointly develop a similar project.
"In the tar sands you are looking at the greatest climate crime because not only will these developments produce 100m tonnes of greenhouse gases annually by 2012 but also kill off 147,000 sq km [56,000 sq miles] of forest that is the greatest carbon sink in the world," said Mike Hudema, a climate campaigner with Greenpeace in Edmonton.
The green group is opposed to tar sands because oil is extracted from the ground in an energy- and water-intensive way. The projects will ensure that Canada cannot meet its Kyoto protocol commitments and will harm indigenous communities, Greenpeace said.
BP accepted that tar sand operations were energy-intensive and would increase its carbon footprint but said it needed to find new supplies to meet increasing demand for oil products. "Someone is going to develop these resources and we will bring our standards to bear and will be developing them as best as possible," a spokesman said.
"We are definitely looking at the possibility of different kinds of action that would ... show the world what is happening," Hudema said.
The department of law in Alaska has posted documents on its website saying it is considering action against BP over oil spills in Prudhoe Bay in 2006.
Via: The Guardian| by Terry Macalister
Tags:
