SMH whips up fear of EWC

Energy World Corporation's 2Mtpa-targeting Cooper to Abbot Point LNG project in Queensland, small compared to most LNG projects around the world, has been labelled huge by the Sydney Morning Herald's environmental editor.

Even EWC called the project a "midscale" one, while Australian Marine Conservation Society campaign director Felicity Wishart told the newspaper the project news "came out of the blue" and "was very concerning".

EWC recently applied for federal environmental approval for the project, a typical first step for any Australian project given that federal approvals take the longest time.

Indian oil scene fatality

A 49-year-old chief engineer of India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation died on Tuesday after sustaining a fatal head injury from an accident that injured three others at a drilling site in the Andhra Pradesh state.

According to The Hindi, the engineer died on the spot, while three wounded workers were hospitalised with non-life threatening injuries.

"The exact cause of the accident was yet to be established," the newspaper reported.

"Entry for outsiders, including media personnel, to the accident was restricted by the ONGC authorities."

Putin threatens EU gas supply

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned in a letter that the Ukraine government's $US2.2 billion debt with Gazprom could end up affecting the company's gas supplies into Europe.

"The remarks were the strongest sign yet that Russia could curtail supplies of gas to Ukraine, which could increase tension between Moscow and Kiev and aggravate the worst crisis in East-West ties since the Cold War," Reuters commented.

Meanwhile, Gazprom officials were in Beijing on Wednesday to discuss piping Russian gas to China with the next talks planned in Russia in late April.

Tutu joins new carbon-bashing campaign

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for an Apartheid-style boycott against fossil fuel industries to save the planet.

"We cannot necessarily bankrupt the fossil fuel industry," he wrote in a story for The Guardian.

"But we can take steps to reduce its political clout, and hold those who rake in the profits accountable for cleaning up the mess."

"And the good news is that we don't have to start from scratch. Young people across the world have already begun to do something about it. The fossil fuel divestment campaign is the fastest growing corporate campaign of its kind in history."