Thread by @David_Ritter

Woodside, Australia’s largest oil & gas corporation, wants to build the climate-wrecking Scarborough Gas Project.
Trying to force through this project in a climate emergency is scandalous. So now is a good time to check out the history of the company. A thread:
#auspol

In April 2016, Woodside concealed a 10 500 litre oil spill off the coast of Western Australia, which went on for two months without anyone from the company noticing. Woodside’s responsibility only came to light after intense public pressure. theguardian.com/environment/20…

In March 2019, Woodside led a cynical lobbying effort to force the Western Australia EPA to abandon new guidelines to protect the climate. The Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility described the affair as a ‘week of shame’:
medium.com/lobbywatch/a-w…

In mid-2020, Woodside tried to avoid decommissioning costs by convincing regulators that dumping all the equipment from its Echo-Yodel field, including 400 tonnes of plastic, on the seafloor was a good idea: boilingcold.com.au/woodside-shout…

Also in 2020, after calls to pay over $200 million to clean up an old gas processing facility, Woodside convinced the government to instead grant them millions of taxpayer dollars, through a shadowy limited tender process, to ‘consult’ on the clean up: crikey.com.au/2020/09/03/woo…

Also in 2020, it was found destruction by Woodside could undermine the efforts of a decade-long campaign to achieve UNESCO World Heritage recognition for the Murujuga cultural landscape, the biggest collection of rock art in Australia.
theguardian.com/artanddesign/2…

In early 2021, regulators began legal investigations into Woodside as its own lack of maintenance means it is unable to dispose of an 83 metre long underwater mining moring, right next door to Ningaloo Marine Park.
boilingcold.com.au/regulator-tell…

Woodside is currently the biggest political donor in the Australian oil and gas industry, which as @Crikeynews noted “has coincided with a run of favourable decisions and pledges from the government”: crikey.com.au/2021/01/19/woo…

Woodside faced scrutiny over the East Timor spy-tapping. Using parliamentary privilege it was said Woodside “wanted to force East Timor, one of the poorest countries in the world, to surrender most of the revenues” from the Greater Sunrise oil & gas field:
theguardian.com/australia-news…

Later, former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who ordered the East Timor spying activity, commenced a lucrative consulting role working for Woodside after leaving parliament.
internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutl…

Now, Woodside is proposing a new climate disaster. The Scarborough gas project, part of the Burrup Hub (the most climate polluting project ever proposed in Australia), would produce an additional 1.6 billion tonnes of climate emissions. sbs.com.au/news/wa-gas-pr…

The site of the climate-wrecking Scarborough proposal is home to thousands of species of whales, sharks, fish, turtles and corals. If a major spill was to occur, there are eight marine parks and protected areas that would be affected.

Earlier this year the ocean was literally on fire, due to a leak from an underwater gas pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico. The Scarborough project would mean 430km of underwater gas pipeline through WA’s oceans - managed by Woodside.

The IEA has specifically said there can be no new coal, oil or gas projects, from now, if we are to have any chance of meeting the internationally agreed Paris climate goals.
iea.org/reports/net-ze…

In the middle of a planetary climate emergency, Woodside’s scheme to unleash the Scarborough gas project on the planet is appalling and scandalous, showing real contempt for the safety and wellbeing of people and nature.

@ConservationWA has been leading a collaborative campaign to stop Woodside’s climate-wrecking project and today @GreenpeaceAP is proud to be joining this collaboration.
Choose whales, and our future, over Woodside. Say no to Scarborough. #auspol
act.gp/woodside