A pair of Isle of Wight Councillors are teaming up to launch a campaign group opposing ExxonMobil’s Solent CO2 Pipeline. Councillors Nick Stuart and Claire Critchinson have said the group will be established with a small committee on 11th September after the next Isle of Wight parish council meetings. Following the launch, the representatives for Brighstone, Calbourne and Shalfleet and Chale, Niton and Shorwell will host a mid-September public meeting. The first gathering will make plans and organise for a wider public meeting for when the campaign hopes to get underway. Councillor Stuart has urged anyone who can help with the campaign or offer any expertise to get in touch via email. The leader of the Isle of Wight Liberal Democrats and former engineer and science teacher said yesterday he remains “entirely unconvinced” of carbon capture and storage technology which ExxonMobil’s pipeline is seeking to implement. He accused ExxonMobil of potentially “smashing the Solent” and the Isle of Wight’s landscape. In reference to ExxonMobil’s ongoing series of public consulatations on proposed pipeline corridor routes he said:
“The polite professional people gave the best answers they could but lack of detail, refusal to provide any information on the CO2 sources or quantities or on alternatives and the clear threat of legal action if they weren’t given access for surveying and the intention to use compulsory purchase powers made it clear they see landowners and other Isle of Wight residents as an inconvenience to be sweet talked or steamrollered.”
Councillor Critichison described the consultation session she attended in Niton on Saturday as “very obstructive”. The former council chair said she had wanted to approach the pipeline project with an “open mind” but came away from the Niton meeting with a “very negative impression” of ExxonMobil’s behaviour. She claimed a company representative at the session said ExxonMobil were deciding on the “least worst route” which she added implied “all the options are negative”. Councillor Critichison said:
“Safety plans were vague, landowner permissions were tricky but they have options and National Trust have assisted them in the past – read into that what you will. “I wanted further details on the decision making process for the three routes and the financial information about losses to industry in the Solent compared to tourism and farming on the Island but that is not available or hasn’t actually occurred it seems. “The representative also stated that this technology is intended as a temporary way to deal with the emissions whilst other non fossil fuel options are being developed and installed. “I felt the example given of if everyone had an electric car at this moment the power wouldn’t be available was very weak. “That to me is an excuse to continue to produce oil based fuel and not push for change.”
ExxonMobil have been approached for comment.
CO2 capture is an ploy to continue to produce oil based fuel and not push for change.
I am a green and I oppose this project. We can not trusts Exxon.
Google Exxon Knew
Exxon are doing this for the environment! Do you see mention of profits or Government subsidies? No! Because Exxon cares.
global energy usage from fossil fuels has been at about 80% for many, many decades with other non fossil fuels making up the other circa 20%. Fossil fuels have powered the global economy for over 150 years.
in 2023… fossil fuels made up 81.5% of the world’s primary energy, down only marginally from 82% the year before, even as wind and solar farms generated record amounts of clean electricity.
despite over 15 trillion dollars spent on renewables in the last 40 years, there has been virtually no actual reduction in the percentage of global energy provided by fossil fuels.
…..
hardly “pushing for change” fred.
fred. New Zealand is reversing its ban on oil and gas exploration that has been in place since 2018 for these reasons…
New Zealand’s natural gas production dropped by 12.5% in 2023 and by a further 27.8% for the first three months of this year, creating a nationwide shortage, according to government estimates. This has resulted in reductions in manufacturing output, while electricity generators have resorted to using more coal and diesel to power the electricity system.
New Zealand currently has an energy shortage. The lakes are low, the sun hasn’t been shining, the wind hasn’t been blowing, and we have an inadequate supply of natural gas to meet demand,” Energy Minister Simeon Brown said in a statement.
new zealand continued…The inadequate energy resources have pushed up wholesale electricity prices, which are “devastating for our manufacturing and export sectors, and is sadly leading to firms reducing production or closing entirely,” Brown added.
google it.
and some clueless indvidual votes islanders posts down – they are facts as reported by the new zealand energy minister – not some conspiracy theory
There has been much talk about damage to the landscape but accidental releases of CO2 can also endanger local communities. In 2020, a CO2 pipeline ruptured following a mudslide near Satartia, Mississippi, causing people nearby to lose consciousness. Two hundred people were evacuated and 45 were hospitalized, and some experienced longer term effects on their health.
Quick to oppose a pipeline, how about opposing
the extortionate Ferry Fares
What is the email address please?
Maybe we can make the worlds largest soda stream?
Build it NOW save the planet …..
Exxon can save the planet
Are they gonna advocate for reform then?
Strange that Exxon’s code name for this project is “Gas the West Wight”.
I guess MP for West Wight Mr Quigley is silent on this as he is counting down the next 50 days and working hard to fix the ferries as he promised.
Think of the environmental impact of digging the trench on island wildlife and the scare it will leave on the island I’m no expert but i believe this carbon capture is just a money making scam
jeez – how much do you think that it will cost exxon to get the pipeline up and running? once it is in place, they just pump CO2 through it, into an underground storage site, instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.
please show me how they are making money from it, as I only see costs and expenditure.