BTC Pipeline Update
The UK ECA, the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) is backing the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline with £60M public money.
A. New Reports Find BTC Unsafe
May 24, 2005 (Source: Friends of the Earth & CEE Bankwatch) — Two reports released ahead of the BTC pipeline 'opening' ceremony in Baku reveal significant concerns regarding the environmental and social damage being caused by the ECA-backed project in Azerbaijan and Georgia.
B. Russians Skeptical About BTC
June 2, 2005 (RIA Novosti, Russia) — BTC's looming under-usage threatens to turn the USD $3B "project of the century" into a big waste of money, smelling of mineral water and revolutionary flowers. The BTC is the longest US-supported pipeline and bypasses both Russia and Iran.
C. Now That Oil Flow Has Begun: the BTC Explained
May 26, 2005 (Guardian, UK) — A useful "Q & A" summary of the pipeline's scope and impact, as well as the alarms raised by environmentalists over shoddy construction and human rights practices.
D. BTC Avoids Risks of Russia
May 26, 2005 (International Herald Tribune/ NYT) — Human Rights Watch calls attention to Azeri human rights abuses while the US calls attention to its new, more secure source of oil.
E. BP's Timebomb
June 2, 2005 (Source: Corpwatch) — Though British Petroleum (BP) has been working hard to remake its public image, in reality it is the world's third-largest oil and gas company— one of the largest polluters on the globe. BP’s profits come with enormous human cost and environmental damages, and its latest venture — the newly-opened BTC pipeline — has done little to make amends.
F. Casualties of the Oil Stampede Along the BTC
June 15, 2005 (Guardian, UK) — The 1,100-mile-long BTC Pipeline is a classic example of pretensions to corporate social responsibility claimed by the BP consortium being trampled by the stampede for oil. Political commentary by the former (1997-2003) Environment Minister for the UK, Michael Meacher.
A. New Reports Find BTC Unsafe
May 24, 2005 (Source: Friends of the Earth & CEE Bankwatch) — Two reports released ahead of the BTC pipeline 'opening' ceremony in Baku reveal significant concerns regarding the environmental and social damage being caused by the ECA-backed project in Azerbaijan and Georgia.
B. Russians Skeptical About BTC
June 2, 2005 (RIA Novosti, Russia) — BTC's looming under-usage threatens to turn the USD $3B "project of the century" into a big waste of money, smelling of mineral water and revolutionary flowers. The BTC is the longest US-supported pipeline and bypasses both Russia and Iran.
C. Now That Oil Flow Has Begun: the BTC Explained
May 26, 2005 (Guardian, UK) — A useful "Q & A" summary of the pipeline's scope and impact, as well as the alarms raised by environmentalists over shoddy construction and human rights practices.
D. BTC Avoids Risks of Russia
May 26, 2005 (International Herald Tribune/ NYT) — Human Rights Watch calls attention to Azeri human rights abuses while the US calls attention to its new, more secure source of oil.
E. BP's Timebomb
June 2, 2005 (Source: Corpwatch) — Though British Petroleum (BP) has been working hard to remake its public image, in reality it is the world's third-largest oil and gas company— one of the largest polluters on the globe. BP’s profits come with enormous human cost and environmental damages, and its latest venture — the newly-opened BTC pipeline — has done little to make amends.
F. Casualties of the Oil Stampede Along the BTC
June 15, 2005 (Guardian, UK) — The 1,100-mile-long BTC Pipeline is a classic example of pretensions to corporate social responsibility claimed by the BP consortium being trampled by the stampede for oil. Political commentary by the former (1997-2003) Environment Minister for the UK, Michael Meacher.