Feature story - November 16, 2009
Greenpeace’s campaign to stop the tar sands gained more momentum in Europe this past weekend as activists in France protested against French energy giant Total’s investments in Canada’s dirty oil.
Day of action in France against Total and oil sands
In seven cities across France, Greenpeace activists peacefully penetrated Total gasoline stations to expose a climate crime sponsored by the European Union: the extraction of dirty tar sands oil in Alberta.
Canada's dirty oil, the world's dirty problem
In Brest, Angers, Poitiers, Aix-en-Provence, Chambéry, Rouen and Nice, activists spoke with clients and employees, informing them about Total's investments in Canada, wh
Find out more about Total's crime against environment
Destruction without borders
The Greenpeace tar sands campaign in France aims at criticizing private foreign groups like Total for their role in climate change and also highlighting, the complicity of the State or the European Union in the tar sands. Europe boasts about being a leader in action on climate change, yet between 2004 and 2008, it allocated more than $9 billion in subsidies to different oil groups, including Total.
EU-sponsored climate destruction
This year, the European Parliament has approved an additional envelope of $4 billion of which Total has received $224 million. The goal was to support the production of these non-traditional European oil groups, including the Alberta tar sands.
With the UN climate talks in Copenhagen inching ever closer, Greenpeace urges Europe to immediately end these investments and subsidies.