[Noisebridge-discuss] BP Busted altering photos !!!!! (Antarctic oil drilling??)

[John Magolske]

> By the way, BP & our administration is working hard behind the
> scenes to start drilling in the Antarctic, as soon as January.

Could you please provide more details? My understanding is that
the Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty on Environmental Protection
states "Any activity relating to mineral resources, other than
scientific research, shall be prohibited". If I'm reading the
following correctly, this protocol was agreed upon in 1990, and
is to remain in effect for 50 years from that date (till 2040):

  "In 1988, the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic
  Mineral Resource Activities (CRAMRA) [1] was negotiated
  to allow and regulate mining. All countries party to the
  Antarctic Treaty would need to sign the treaty for it to
  go into effect. After an intense environmental campaign,
  Australia and France refused to sign and they were later
  joined by other nations. Two years later, the Protocol on
  Environmental Protection [2] to the Antarctic Treaty [3]
  was agreed on, which bans mining on Antarctica for at
  least 50 years." [4]

[1] http://sedac.ciesin.org/entri/texts/acrc/cramra.txt.html
[2] http://sedac.ciesin.org/entri/register/reg-025.rrr.html
[3] http://sedac.ciesin.org/entri/texts/acrc/at.txt.html
[4] http://www.wbur.org/special/antarctica/mapsfacts/

John

-- 
John Magolske
http://B79.net/contact