News21 February 2007 13 February 2007
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Friends of the Earth no friend to the earthFrits Bolkestein On Thursday Milieudefensie published a two-page advertisement in this newspaper. The advertisement is a brutal attack against Shell that insinuates that Shell does nothing to protect the environment. Information that can be found in publically accesible reports says the contrary. Friends of the Earth is misleading your readers. In the campaign to recruit support for her advertisement also included a number of empty arguments or fallacies. These were not included in the advertisement as such, but reduced to slogans. Friends of the Earth has tunnel vision and is not using its brains? A few examples: In Sacchalin the most expensive oil and gas investment project amounts to more than twenty billion dollars. The Russian government has accused Shell of breaching envrionmental legislation. These accusations were bogus. They were part of the blackmail to ensure Gazprom received a share in the project. Nevertheless, Friends of the Earth chooses to repeat these accusations and thus becomes an accomplice to Russia's deception. According to Friends of the Earth the Sachhalin project threatens whales. What are the facts. In 2004 Shell consulted the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Their advice was taken to heart and Shell decided to divert the pipeline twenty kilometres away from the whaling area. Has Milieudefensie read Shell's Sustainability Report 2005? Nigeria is another example. There Shell is accused of gas flaring and leaks. Milieudefensie creates the impression that nothing is being done, while the contrary is true. The amount of gas flared in 2005 was less than in 2003 and 2004. In 2009 no more gas will be flared. The accusation with regard to leaks is even worse. Incredible amounts of oil are tapped/stolen in the Niger Delta. This leads to lots of leaks. But who is responsible? The safety conditions in Nigeria have so deteriorated that the familys of foreign personnel have been repatriated, but Milieudefensie does not mention this. Has Milieudefensie read Shell Nigeria Annual Report 2005? I get the impression they have not. A third example is Curaçao. There is a lake of asphalt there that was created during World War Two when more tarmac was produced than needed. In 1985 Shell sold the refinery, including the asphalt lake to the government of Curaco. Milieudefensie now want to make Shell responsible for this lake. This is unfair. And it goes on. Milieudefensie accuses Shell of inappropriate behaviour on the coast of Louisiana. Port Arthur is located here, for which Shell received an environmental award. Milieudefensie refers to Shell's profits as sky-high. What do they think happens with these profits. Do they think these disappear into the deep pockets of Shell's shareholders? The International Energy Agency in Paris has calculated that until 2030 17 thousand billion dollars are needed in the entire energy sector. Where is that money coming from? Friends of the Earth is not seeking dialogue, but confrontation and they do so without showing any understanding of the complexity of the oil industry. The result of their rash attack. That Shell's president-director and future Dutch Parliament member (First Chamber) Rein Willems, says to the newspaper NRC Handelsblad. ?I am open to all environmental organisations, except Friends of the Earth. ¨ No dialogue and that is not helping the environment. Friends of the Earth is not being a Friend of the Earth and it is a mystery why our ministry of environment chooses to give them financial support. |
