A citizens’ petition signed by over 15,000 people calling on the European Union to keep tar sands out of Europe was presented the European Parliament today.
It was organised by Friends of the Earth Europe, along with a coalition of environmental organisations including the Co-operative, Greenpeace, Transport & Environment and WWF.
Support for the demands came from an influential cross-party group of MEPs on the Parliament’s Environment Committee. The petition hand-over was accompanied by ‘Tarnished Earth’, a street exhibition about the devastating social and environmental effects of tar sands which has been located outside the European Parliament throughout March.
The campaign relates to the European Union’s Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) – to ensure that the significantly higher greenhouse gas emissions resulting from tar sands oil are taken into account. This would effectively stop the controversial fuel, primarily produced in Alberta, Canada, from entering Europe.
The coalition want a tar sands value to be reinstated in the final proposals, to recognise that tar sand fuels emit at least 23 per cent more emissions than conventional oil. They are also calling on Parliament to reject the Commission’s proposals if it fails to make these changes.
