Thanks for saving millions of barrels of oil

Posted by jamess — 28 January 2011 at 12:40pm - Comments
By pushing for strong European emissions laws, we can save a lot of oil
All rights reserved. Credit: © Greenpeace / Philip Reynaers
By pushing for strong European emissions laws, we can save a lot of oil

Thanks to all of you who sent emails to Philip Hammond and Ford over the past few months - you really made an impact.

Your pressure helped us take an important step towards kicking our oil addiction.

Back in November I emailed many of you about a closed-door EU negotiation going on in Brussels. We got word from some contacts there that certain lobbyists were trying to weaken a law that had some pretty big impacts for our planet.

The deal being brokered was about the amount of CO2 emitted by vans across Europe, and there were some car industry lobbyists trying to scupper a strong limit on those climate-wrecking emissions.

Gas guzzling cars and vans mean more oil drilling in places like the tar sands of Canada and the pristine Arctic waters, as well as creating more emissions and accelerating climate change.

However, it's not all doom and gloom.

The more efficient our cars, the less oil we have to drill for to keep them moving. More efficient vehicles are the first step towards breaking our oil addiction.

But to create efficient vehicles we need strong laws - needless to say, car companies are not going to green themselves.

That's where you really helped.

The van emissions target agreed for 2020 was 147g CO2/km, and while it's not yet where we want it to be, there is no doubt that your action will help us reduce our oil use by millions of barrels of oil. Feedback from our contacts in Brussels said your pressure was really important in weakening the grip of the oil lobby.

So big thanks. Unfortunately though, the story doesn't end there.

As you may have heard in the news recently, big oil is on the march again. Following a massive deal with Russian company Rosneft, BP has set its drill sights on the Arctic. Also Cairn Energy are looking to return there again in April.

2011 is shaping up to be a critical year in our confrontation with the oil industry.

If we are to succeed, we're going to have to challenge companies, lobbyists, politicians and ultimately ourselves on the way to a clean energy future.

A big thank you for being a key part of it so far.

If you didn't get involved this time but you'd like to hear about key moments when we need your help to pressure politicans and companies to change, sign up for our email newsletter.

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