Norway’s huge Oil Fund is often used as the country’s politically correct investor abroad. Now several Norwegian politicians want to also use it as a “political tool” at home to promote climate measures, over the strong objections of the Conservatives’ Prime Minister Erna Solberg. She calls any such efforts “dangerous.” Debate over how to best exploit the […]
More oil found as anti-oil trial begins
November 7, 2019
Norwegian state oil company Equinor seems to believe that the best defense is a good offense. Not only did it announce a large discovery of more oil this week, it also launched a major public relations campaign, just as climate and environmental activists were taking the state to court again in an effort to halt […]
Storm stops oil drilling protest
October 31, 2019
Stormy seas and bad weather prevented climate and environmental activists from trying to stop a large drilling rig’s controversial oil exploration efforts near a sensitive coral reef off Helgeland on Thursday. The German oil company that chartered the rig is undaunted by all the protests, and reported that drilling was getting underway. “First we’ll drill […]
Liberals lose their climate credibility
October 29, 2019
Veteran environmentalist Frederic Hauge has joined the ranks of those giving up on Norway’s embattled Liberal Party. He and fellow activist Gaute Eiterjord claim the party has lost whatever credibility it had left this week when its deputy leader Ola Elvestuen, who serves as Climate and Environment Minister, refused to block oil drilling near an […]
Oil Fund milestone fuels rare praise
October 28, 2019
Even critical Norwegian newspapers had praise for Norwegian politicians over the weekend, after the country’s enormous Oil Fund broke yet another record. “Congratulations!” editorialized Aftenposten, as the fund’s market value surpassed the dizzying figure equivalent to NOK 10,000 billion. The praise was doled out in several directions but first and foremost to the broad majority […]
Protests washed over ‘Our Ocean’ show
October 25, 2019
NEWS ANALYSIS: After years of earning billions off its own offshore oil, gas, seafood and shipping industries, the Norwegian government hosted a heavily promoted conference in Oslo this week aimed at protecting the world’s oceans. Protesters demonstrating outside found it all a bit hypocritical, claiming Norway should first protect the seas in its own backyard. […]
Norway can pay to avoid climate cuts
October 14, 2019
A loophole in Norway’s agreement with the EU to cut Norwegian carbon emissions will once again allow the country made wealthy by its oil industry to pay other countries to cut their emissions instead. Some government politicians are already talking about financing emissions cuts in poor Eastern European countries, so that Norway’s oil industry can […]
Greens: ‘Stop oil exploration now’
October 8, 2019
UPDATED: The national spokesperson for Norway’s Greens Party is calling on the Conservatives-led government to immediately halt issuance of new oil and gas exploration licenses, and he’s won cautious support from some Conservative MPs. Arild Hermstad is also once again urging the government to eventually phase out oil production in much the same way Germany […]
Opposition finds lots to complain about
October 7, 2019
NEWS ANALYSIS: The conservative government’s state budget “fails to solve the big challenges,” it “lets down the next generation” and shows that the government “isn’t listening to what folks are saying.” There was all kinds of buzz in the corridors of Parliament on Monday over the new state budget proposal for next year. It didn’t […]
More oil gushes as conflicts rage
October 6, 2019
Norway’s state-owned oil and energy company Equinor publicly celebrated during the weekend as it started pumping up the first oil from its huge new Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea. Far from feeling guilty about producing more oil in the midst of ever-increasing conflicts over climate concerns, executives of the former Statoil found no […]
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