Are we this desperate?

The Yasuni National Park, known as "the lungs of the world" and one of the most bio-diverse places on earth, is under threat from oil drilling. The race is on to find the funds required to develop new sustainable energy programmes that would leave the oil - and the forest - untouched.


Read more at the BBC.

Oil slick in pictures

Pictured above the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico. To the East the Mississippi delta.
For more images of this environmental disaster click this link or this link.

For a different perspective check out the Basil and Spice blog.

Or follow recent developments on abc news

A blast from the past!

For us oldies who remember this......

It is 20 years since the Exxon Valdez supertanker ran aground in Alaska, spilling 38,000 tonnes of crude oil into the sheltered waters of a picturesque sound. It wasn't the biggest oil spill recorded but it was, arguably, the most iconic.

What lessons have we learnt from this oil disaster? To find out read this article on the BBC

Man made eruption

The eruption of the Lusi mud volcano in Indonesia was caused by drilling for oil and gas, a meeting of 74 leading geologists has concluded.

Lusi erupted in May 2006 and continues to spew out boiling mud, displacing around 30,000 people in East Java.

Drilling firm Lapindo Brantas denies a nearby well was the trigger, blaming an earthquake 280km (174 miles) away.

Around 10,000 families who have lost their homes are awaiting compensation, which could run as high as $70m (£43m).

After debating new evidence at a conference in South Africa, most geologists voted drilling as the cause.

For more details follow this link to the BBC page.