Yesterday something big happened - very big. Having filed papers to the High Court back in November, Greenpeace UK finally got the go-ahead to mount a legal challenge against the issuing of new licenses for deepwater drilling in UK waters.
There's more here, but essentially we’re arguing that issuing new licenses is unlawful as the government hasn’t completed an assessment of the risks following BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. I've just had to write a risk assessment for a campaign stall (yes, for a table at a green fair), and many of you will have done the same at work or when taking part in hobbies, yet oil companies have been able to take any risks they like despite the rather greater potential for catastrophe.
Judicial Reviews (the official term for our legal challenge) are known to be hard to get to this stage - now the government has to prepare a full legal defence of their position and we’ll soon see if any oil companies will join the government’s side.
The process won't be quick, but the go-ahead for the Judicial Review means it's possible that the government will no longer be able to continue rubber-stamping dodgy oil projects. As our campaign says, it’s time to 'Go Beyond Oil' and our politicians need to realise this. I rather imagine my next meeting/s with Chris Huhne (my MP, and the Minister for Energy & Climate Change who grants such licences) may be a little frostier than they have been...
Of course, we don't know whether we'll win or not - there will undoubtedly be huge pressure to maintain the status quo - from government and presumably the oil industry among others - but it's essential to challenge the irresponsible use of power that allows dangerous oil exploration at a time when we should be weaning ourselves off our oil addiction - we'll never tackle climate change otherwise. And don't forget, we (with our splendid lawyers) have a strong track record of epic victories at the High Court - remember the Heathrow 3rd runway and the government's nuclear plans?
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