Posted by admin -
5 October 1999 at 8:00am -
Comments
St. Kilda - under threat from oil exploration
St Kilda is in the same league as the Great Barrier Reef by being
designated a Natural World Heritage Site. It is recognised as being
globally important for seabird populations. But little is known about
what lives there under the sea. Greenpeace divers conducted the first
ever underwater survey of the northern edges of the islands that are
most at risk from Government licensed oil exploration.
Posted by admin -
28 September 1999 at 8:00am -
Comments
Atlantic Frontier threatened by oil exploration
In a High Court hearing in London, beginning on the 11th October,
Greenpeace is challenging the UK Government's failure to conserve
whales, dolphins and coral reefs under the EC Habitats Directive. If
Greenpeace is successful all future oil licensing in the Atlantic
Frontier will be illegal until the Directive is applied.
Posted by bex -
18 September 1999 at 8:00am -
Comments
St. Kilda's precipitous cliffs, crystal clear water and massive seabird colonies have continued to attract generations of divers, sailors and nature-lovers to its shores. It ranks alongside the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef as a World Heritage Site.
The islands once again find themselves on the edge of a change at least as big as that of the loss of its people. The industrial world is finally encroaching on the wild seas around St Kilda - oil companies are being offered thousands of square miles of the sea-bed of Britain's Atlantic Frontier including areas only 25 miles from St Kilda. In July 1999 the UK Government gave the green light for an oil rig to start drilling west of the Outer Hebrides, just 75 miles from St Kilda.
The IUCN, nature conservation advisors to the UN, have concluded that St Kilda is at high risk from oil developments.
Posted by bex -
10 September 1999 at 8:00am -
Comments
Renewable energy has the potential to create thousands of jobs and generate power without imperilling the climate.
The UK government must set a series of progressive renewable energy targets, leading to a fossil fuel phase out in the next 30 to 40 years and open up the huge UK offshore wind resource. At the very least this means announcing a licensing round for offshore wind. To assure industry that investment in UK offshore wind is worthwhile, the Government must ensure these rounds are substantial and regular.
Posted by bex -
2 September 1999 at 8:00am -
Comments
There is a long tradition on St Kilda of people being given a say on issues that concerned them. That tradition has now been revived, with everyone having the chance to vote on the future of St Kilda.
Posted by admin -
1 September 1999 at 8:00am -
Comments
The Arctic Sunrise
A three week Greenpeace scientific expedition in July to the
retreating Arctic ice pack has uncovered new evidence that climate
change appears to be impacting on the wildlife and ecology of the
region, particularly walrus young. Matthew Spencer Head of the Climate
Campaign reports:
Posted by bex -
1 September 1999 at 8:00am -
Comments
Greenpeace has launched an online referendum on whether or not oil exploration should continue in the seabed around the islands of St Kilda, West Scotland. Rob Gueterbock, Greenpeace St Kilda historian and oil analyst, explains:
"Away from the public gaze, the Government has been carving up and selling off the Atlantic seabed around St Kilda, Britain's only Natural World Heritage Site, to multinational oil companies. Drilling could start any day now without any public debate having taken place. The Government has never set up a vote and the oil companies certainly haven't.
Posted by admin -
18 August 1999 at 8:00am -
Comments
The remote volcanic islands had an active parliament, called the
MÕd, for hundreds of years until its population was evacuated
in 1931. Every morning the men of the island would gather in the cobbled
street of the main island to decide on their work for the day and to
exchange gossip about the latest visitors to the island. Work would have
to be postponed until the following day if, as frequently happened,
discussions continued into the afternoon without resolution.
