Category Archives: Gas

Activists hit with restraining orders lawyer claims will stop them speaking out about Woodside

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Fossil fuel company denies orders granted after incident at CEO’s home are intended to prevent campaigners from speaking out

Four activists have been hit with violence restraining orders that their lawyer says prevents them from making any public reference to Woodside’s CEO and effectively stops them from speaking out about the company.

The interim court orders were issued to activists charged in relation to an incident at the home of Meg O’Neill and “were sought to protect Ms O’Neill’s family’s safety”, a Woodside spokesperson confirmed.

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Woodside faces Indigenous legal challenge to seismic blasting at WA gas site

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Traditional owner alleges company failed to adequately consult on effect of Scarborough project blasting on sea country

A traditional owner has filed a legal challenge to the approval of seismic blasting for Woodside’s Scarborough offshore gas project in Western Australia.

Mardudhunera woman Raelene Cooper is seeking a judicial review of the offshore petroleum regulator Nopsema’s decision to grant the approval despite concerns consultation with traditional owners had been inadequate.

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Scottish public spending deficit falls as oil revenues hit record high

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Both sides of constitutional debate use Gers data to argue case for and against independence

Scotland’s public spending deficit has fallen from a record peak last year, as oil and gas revenues reached their highest-ever level after a global rise in oil prices.

The government expenditure and revenue Scotland (Gers) report calculated a per-person deficit – the gap between the amount raised through all tax and spending on all public services – as £1,521 in the 2022-23 financial year, down from £2,184 the previous year.

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Amazon leaders fail to commit to end deforestation by 2030

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Eight South American presidents including Brazil’s Lula say rich countries need to pledge more resources to help protect rainforest

Amazon leaders have called on rich countries to help them develop a Marshall-style plan to protect the world’s largest rainforest – but stopped short of committing to zero deforestation across the biome by 2030 amid divisions over oil extraction.

In a joint declaration at the end of a two-day summit in the Brazilian city of Belém on Wednesday, the eight South American countries that are home to the Amazon rainforest said ensuring its survival could not be solely up to them, as resources from the forest were consumed globally.

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Australia politics live: Pocock claims Labor adopting Coalition’s ‘gas-led recovery’ and doing bare minimum on climate crisis

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Doctors press Labor over NT gas projects

More than 2,000 doctors, GPs and health professionals have now signed a letter to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, demanding the government reconsider subsidising the Middle Arm project and “intervene to prevent gas fracking in the Beetaloo Basin, acknowledging that the emissions cannot be fully offset”.

We do not want these industries to be established in Darwin due to the risk they pose to the population and the risk they pose to the whole of Australia by driving the climate crisis.

We would like governments around Australia to put the health of their people first and understand the principle of first do no harm when considering the approval of projects like this.

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Starmer says Sunak’s lack of investment in wind power is ‘gift to Putin’

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Labour leader claims Conservatives’ onshore turbine ban costs families £180 each and makes UK reliant on gas imports

Keir Starmer has condemned the prime minister’s climate policies, declaring the failure to invest in renewables such as wind turbines a “gift to Putin”.

The Labour leader also described the Conservatives’ onshore wind ban as “ludicrous” and said it now means every family in the country is paying £180 more on their energy bills.

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Help with UK energy bills unlikely this winter, suggests Grant Shapps

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Energy secretary says government wants to focus on cutting taxes once inflation falls

Grant Shapps has suggested it is unlikely the government will step in to protect households from rising energy bills this winter.

The energy secretary said in an interview with the Times that once inflation had fallen the government would “absolutely” need to cut taxes.

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Will Ghana’s gas gamble perpetuate a cycle of fossil-fuel related debt?

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West African country is enduring hard times – and critics say plan to import liquefied natural gas will only make things worse

John Gakpo has milled corn to make kenkey – a cornmeal dumpling and Ghana’s staple food – in a dimly lit wooden shack in a suburb of the capital, Accra, for 15 years.

In the past, his earnings have been sufficient to provide for his family – but not any more.

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Climate activists target Woodside CEO’s home in protest, company claims

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Meg O’Neill says protesters trespassed at her Perth home on Tuesday amid climate backlash over Burrup Hub expansion

Climate activists have targeted the family home of Woodside Energy’s boss in what the company claimed was the escalation of protests over its gas business.

The firm’s chief executive, Meg O’Neill, said “extremist” protesters accompanied by camera crews trespassed on Tuesday morning at her Perth home in the affluent suburb of City Beach.

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Leak reveals ‘touchy’ issues for UAE’s presidency of UN climate summit

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Exclusive: Long list of ‘sensitive’ topics for petrostate include oil and gas production, emissions and Yemen war crimes

A comprehensive list of “touchy and sensitive issues” for the United Arab Emirates, which is running the next UN climate summit, has been revealed in a document leaked to the Guardian.

The document sets out the government-approved “strategic messages” to be used in response to media requests about the issues, which range from the UAE’s increasing production of oil and gas to people trafficking.

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NSW won’t ban gas in new homes as premier declares ‘I don’t need another complication’

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Chris Minns rules out following Victoria in banning new gas connections, saying state has enough serious energy challenges

Homes in New South Wales will continue being built with gas connections after the premier, Chris Minns, ruled out a Victorian-style ban on new connections, saying the state already had enough energy supply issues.

The definitive comments came after the state’s energy minister, Penny Sharpe, on Sunday refused to rule out the possibility of the state following Victoria.

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Woodside LNG: Australia’s ‘biggest’ contribution to climate crisis a step closer to 50-year extension

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WA EPA dismisses most grounds of appeal against extension of operation licence for gas processing facility in the Pilbara

One of Australia’s biggest fossil fuel developments is a step closer to having its life extended for nearly 50 years after Western Australian officials dismissed appeals arguing it should be stopped on climate science and cultural grounds.

More than 750 organisations and individuals last year lodged objections to a WA Environment Protection Authority (EPA) recommendation that oil and gas company Woodside be allowed to operate its gas processing facility in the Pilbara until 2070.

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New North Sea oil and gas fields ‘will not meet UK’s energy needs’

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Plans would only supply Britain with fossil fuels for an additional three weeks a year, analysis finds

New oil and gas fields in the North Sea would produce only enough gas to satisfy the UK’s needs for a few weeks a year, with a minimal impact on energy security, analysis has found.

Fields now under consideration would supply at most an additional three weeks of gas a year to the UK, from 2024 to 2050, even if none of the gas was exported.

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Robodebt royal commission report handed down – as it happened

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Bill Shorten: robodebt commission report will be a ‘vindication’ for victims and their families

The NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, says today “is a vindication” for victims of the robodebt scandal with the royal commission report being handed down. He told ABC’s RN this morning:

The heart of this story today is the fact that real people unlawfully had debt notices … raised against them by the most powerful institution in Australia, the commonwealth government.

Two of these people, after receiving robodebt notices, subsequently took their own lives that I’m aware of.

Today is not the day [their mothers] want. What they really want is their sons to be alive.

One of the challenges we’re seeing across the country is great teacher shortages … COVID brought that timetable forward.

Classrooms are more complex, there is a great diversity of needs across the classroom, and as society changes a lot of teachers and education ministers are testifying about the impact of technology in classrooms.

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International Energy Agency warns of higher bills this winter

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Fatih Birol says China’s economic recovery combined with harsh winter could pile pressure on gas supplies

The head of the International Energy Agency has said energy prices may spike again this winter, forcing government to subsidise bills – just days after state support for UK households fell away.

Fatih Birol said a rapid improvement in the Chinese economy, coupled with a harsh winter, could put pressure on gas supplies and push up bills for consumers.

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GMB accuses gas network of ‘money-grabbing’ cuts to pension scheme

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Exclusive: Cadent Gas, owned by Australia asset manager Macquarie, is considering closing its defined benefit scheme

The former owner of crisis-hit Thames Water has been accused by union leaders of staging a “cost-cutting money grab” at another critical UK infrastructure asset under its control, as it emerged that Cadent Gas is considering cuts to its pension scheme.

Macquarie, the Australian banking powerhouse that owned Thames for a decade, has led a consortium controlling Cadent since 2016. Cadent, Britain’s biggest gas network, serving 11 million people, was formerly part of National Grid.

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Labor under fire from crossbench over $1.5bn stake in Middle Arm industrial precinct

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Zali Steggall and David Pocock take aim at government over support of development on Darwin habour which will benefit gas industry

The Albanese government has come under pressure from the crossbench over its $1.5bn stake in a “sustainable” development precinct on Darwin harbour after documents revealed the project would benefit the gas industry.

In question time on Thursday, the independent MP for Warringah, Zali Steggall, asked the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, why his government had “backflipped” and blocked a Senate inquiry into the Middle Arm industrial precinct.

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Gas stoves emit benzene levels above secondhand smoke, US study finds

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Even low doses of airborne benzene raise the risk of a variety of cancers, including lymphomas and leukemia

Using a gas stove can raise indoor concentrations of benzene, a cancer-linked chemical, to above what’s found in secondhand smoking or even beyond levels found next to oil and gas facilities, a new study has found.

The research, which measured benzene levels in 87 homes in California and Colorado, found that gas and propane stoves frequently emitted benzene at rates well above healthy benchmarks set by the World Health Organization and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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Starmer reassures North Sea workers as Labour lays out energy and climate plan

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Speech in Scotland shows willingness to face energy dilemma head-on, but green groups say fossil fuel end date must come soon

Scotland was a brave choice as the venue for the launch of Keir Starmer’s new energy and climate policy. Back in March, Rishi Sunak was planning to hold his “energy day” in Aberdeen, the UK’s oil and gas capital, but after criticism he switched to the much safer Oxfordshire.

Starmer knows that Labour needs to win back lost seats in Scotland, so visiting the Scottish capital for an important speech was a canny move. More than that, though, taking the launch to Edinburgh showed a willingness to face head-on Labour’s energy dilemma: how to shift the UK economy to a low-carbon footing, as net zero demands, without destroying high-quality jobs in carbon-intensive industries.

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‘No time to waste’: getting Australian homes off gas crucial for meeting net zero targets, report says

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Grattan Institute analysis recommends governments help households transition to electric, and ban new gas connections for homes and businesses

Getting households off gas for heating and cooking would cut energy bills and improve people’s health, and is necessary for Australia to have any hope of reaching net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050, a new analysis says.

The report by the Grattan Institute, a Melbourne-based thinktank, called on state and territory governments to set dates for the end of gas use and launch campaigns to encourage and help households become “all electric”, running on renewable energy.

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