Oxford City Council declared itself a ‘Tar-Free City‘ by voting in favour of a motion (see below) tabled by Green Party councillor Sam Hollick. This makes Oxford the first city in Europe to reject the use of highly-polluting tar sands oil, by adjusting the policies governing the procurement of fuel to the Council for municipal use. It comes as Europe faces the real possibility of tar sands oil being imported in large quantities for the first time.
See http://tarfreetowns.org/news/oxford-becomes-europes-first-tar-free-city/.
British companies involved in the Alberta tarsands development in Canada include BP and Shell.
All We Ever Asked: Keystone, Climate, and the National Interest
President Obama’s speech on climate change at Georgetown on June 25 made this much clear: he will evaluate the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline based on its climate impact.
See http://priceofoil.org/2013/06/26/all-we-ever-asked-keystone-climate-and-the-national-interest/.