Greenpeace blogs

“As long as there is one of us standing, there will be a fight to protect the forests”

Jess Miller — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 22:45:00 +0200

zoom Today, Brazil celebrates Indigenous Peoples Day. However, on a day that is supposed to celebrate their ancestors, culture and stories, many of Indigenous Peoples are instead fighting for their lands and their rights. According to a survey by CIMI (Indigenous Missionary … Continue reading →

Texas explosion highlights risks to communities near facilities storing dangerous chemicals

John Deans — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 19:58:00 +0200

The disaster at a fertilizer facility in West, Texas Wednesday night has killed and injured many people according to news reports, and our thoughts are with those impacted by this tragedy. New aerial photos of the explosion show the devastation … Continue reading →

Three years after BP’s Gulf oil spill, there is still more to know

Claudette Juska — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 19:20:00 +0200

Tomorrow marks the third anniversary of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. And while I wish it was a distant memory, I’ve been thinking about it all too much lately. The recent Exxon tar sands pipeline spill … Continue reading →

Google pressures largest US utility company to put renewable energy on the menu

Gary Cook — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:31:00 +0200

Thanks to some pressure from Google, the largest utility company in the U.S., Duke Energy, now plans to offer renewable energy to its major customers. This will allow Google, who also announced plans today to double the size of one … Continue reading →

21 groups call for moratorium on Powder River coal in letter to new Interior Secretary Sally Jewell

Joe Smyth — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:02:00 +0200

The leaders of 21 organizations welcomed Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell to her first day on the job today with a letter calling for “an immediate moratorium on new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin and a comprehensive … Continue reading →

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon on the rise again.

Daniel Brindis — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 22:23:00 +0100

Just months after celebrating the lowest historic deforestation rate in the Amazon, the Brazilian government released new figures this week that it may be losing progress. The new Amazon deforestation figures estimate that 654 square miles of forest, an area … Continue reading →

What do the climate-denying Koch Brothers have to do with March Madness?

Cassady Sharp — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:27:00 +0100

Thanks to Zack Beauchamp and John Halpin at Think Progress for this great piece on the Koch Brothers’ funding behind Florida Gulf Coast University, recent NCAA upset team. The Koch brothers push their funding and climate denial agenda to several U.S. universities. … Continue reading →

Drawing a line the in the sand, not in the forests.

Kat Clark — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 23:51:00 +0100

At Greenpeace, we’re often working hard to help save unique and amazing forests in places like the Amazon and Indonesia. This week, we’re excited to announce a major victory for our unique and amazing forests right here in the U.S. … Continue reading →

Brrrrrrrr: Arctic ice loss responsible for our chilly spring

Cassady Sharp — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:12:00 +0100

Although it’s Cherry Blossom festival time in Washington D.C., Greenpeace’s United States headquarters, we’re still bundled in our winter gear. Turns out that the same warmer temperatures causing Arctic ice loss at record-breaking speeds are responsible for the extreme winter … Continue reading →

Giant Tiger Calls Out Rainforest Destroyer

Amy Moas — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:53:00 +0100

Greenpeace activists inflated a 42 foot tiger on San Francisco’s iconic Embarcadero on Thursday, the International Day of Forests. The giant tiger helped send a message about Indonesia’s second largest pulp and paper company, APRIL (Asia Pacific Resources International Limited) … Continue reading →

How much scandal can fit in one can of tuna?

Casson Trenor — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:39:00 +0100

We’ve seen things go from bad to worse in the conventional canned tuna industry over the last year. In 2011, with the launch of Greenpeace’s campaign to reform Chicken of the Sea, information on the sector’s destructive practices came to … Continue reading →

Every day is forest day at Greenpeace

Paulo Adario — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:24:00 +0100

Today I will celebrate. And my friends and colleagues in the Greenpeace Forest campaign will too. But this is nothing different for us. We do this every day. But maybe, just maybe, the focus that a day like today brings … Continue reading →

California calls out Chicken of the Sea

Paloma Henriques, Orange County Coordinator — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:51:00 +0100

Last Saturday, a group of blue-clad ocean lovers paraded around Orange Circle Antique Mall in Orange, California calling on Chicken of the Sea to drop their destructive fishing practices. The group was headed up by a bloody-mouthed mermaid and a life-size yellowfin tuna dancing to calypso music. Passersby and folks dining in outdoor cafes were given paper fish with the mysterious url tunasecrets.com. The paraders held signs like “Stop Pirate Fishing” and “End Ocean Destruction Now.” Several people asked to take pictures with the mermaid and tuna, although they had to stand between the two to keep the hungry mermaid from sinking her teeth into that tasty juvenile yellowfin.

This was the second mermaid parade to hit the streets of Orange County, and the latest in a series of carnivalesque marches in cities across the country exposing the destructive fishing practices of America’s major tuna supplier Chicken of the Sea. The company uses indiscriminate methods of fishing like longlines and fish aggregating devices. Countless sharks, billfish, baby yellowfin tuna, and juvenile bigeye tuna (a species listed as at high risk for extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature) are killed by their use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) with purse seine nets in the production of “chunk light” tuna. Thousands of turtles, sea birds, sharks, and other animals are slaughtered on indiscriminate conventional longlines in the company’s hunt for albacore – or “solid white” – tuna.

Hopefully the next parade will not be about the albatross, sharks, and sea turtles that are slaughtered in pursuit of tuna melts and tuna salad. Hopefully the next parade will be in celebration of America’s largest tuna company adopting more sustainable methods of fishing – FAD free purse seine nets and pole and line. Come on, Chicken of the Sea, be a responsible leader in your industry!

"If You See Something, Say Something"

jdeans — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:54:00 +0100

Who has been waiting for a train, plane, or a bus and heard that? Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano hopes that you all have.

Tuesday morning aboard the new Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace launched a new online map that allows communities to see for the first time whether they live in the vulnerability zone of one of 483 high risk chemical plants, and then it allows them to say something to President Obama. Each of the plants puts 100,000 or more people at risk of a poison gas disaster by accident or terrorist attack. All together that's more than 110 million people, or 1 in 3 Americans.

Representatives from Center for Health, Environment & Justice, WEACT for Environmental Justice, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and NY Public Interest Research Group joined Greenpeace on our newest ship to support the launch and call on President Obama to eliminate these hazards.

While hundreds of plants across the country have converted to safer alternatives, proving that disaster prevention is feasible and cost effective, the large majority of the highest risk plants have done little. Luckily the President has the authority under the Clean Air Act to require these facilities to upgrade to safer technology and eliminate these hazards.

Greenpeace has joined with over 100 labor, public health, environmental justice, and public interest groups to call on the President to do just that. Find out if you are put at risk by one of these facilities then add your name to the petition to the President to ask him to protect you and the rest of the country from chemical disasters.

You can also read our Press Release.

Dump Duke Energy, Cleaner is Cheaper

Kate Melges — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:36:00 +0100

Greenpeace flew an airship over Cincinnati today with banners reading “Dump Duke Energy” and "Cleaner is Cheaper" to highlight the opportunity the city has to switch to a cheaper, renewable energy provider.

For years, Duke Energy executives and their Wall Street investors have made millions of dollars on the backs of Ohio energy customers, while poisoning the air with coal fired power plants. Two of these old coal plants, Miami Fort and Beckjord, sit on either side of Cincinnati and have been pumping out pollution for the last sixty years. According to the Clean Air Task Force, the pollution from these two coal plants is responsible for 200 deaths, 313 heart attacks, over 3,200 asthma attacks and hundreds of hospital admissions and emergency room visits each year.

200 deaths per year. And that’s just two of Duke’s six coal plants in Ohio.

But all that could soon change. Last November, Cincinnati residents overwhelmingly voted to pass a ballot initiative allowing the city to pool its purchasing power and choose a new energy provider. (You can learn more about how communities in Ohio are coming together to negotiate better deals with energy providers in this report from Ohio Citizen Action.) Now, the Cincinnati City Council is considering what criteria to use when choosing a new energy provider, such as cost savings and renewable energy. Cincinnati could choose to require 100% renewable energy from any energy providers seeking a contract to supply electricity to the city. At a City Council hearing this past Monday, nearly every resident who testified urged the City Council to require any energy provider seeking to provide the city with power to use 100% renewable energy.

It’s a great opportunity to replace Duke’s dirty coal power with less expensive clean, renewable energy. While Duke Energy says that it wants to be a responsible, forward-looking company, it continues to rely on dirty old coal plants. If it wants to be Cincinnati's energy provider, Duke should be switching to renewable energy. Until then, Cincinnati should choose a new energy provider and the cleaner air, good jobs, and lower electric bills it would bring to Ohio.

Big Miracle -- A Whale Rescue Movie With a Deeper Message

Phil Kline — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:53:00 +0100

This is a poor pun, but I can't resist -- I had a whale of time last Wednesday night at the DC premiere of Big Miracle, the new Drew Barrymore movie that features a family of grey whales as her co-stars. This whale of a tale (sorry, I can’t help it) is based on a true story that took place about 20 years ago. Greenpeace activist Cindy Lowry, played by Ms. Barrymore, worked to free an unfortunate whale family that didn’t leave its Arctic summer feeding grounds before the ocean began to freeze over. The whales became trapped five miles from open ocean -- a fate that would have meant certain death in the face of the approaching Arctic winter.

The movie is the inspired telling of how Cindy gets a lot of usually at-odds folks to cooperate: The US government, the Soviet Union, Big Oil, the townspeople of Barrow, Alaska, and the indigenous Inupiat community all set differences aside and quite literally save the whales. And while I may be giving away the ending, the real story is just how tough it is to get so many groups of people to find those precious points of understanding that allow them to come together for something greater. It gave me hope that we can certainly do it again.

Ms. Barrymore does a commendable job stepping in to Cindy’s role. My favorite scene is when she uses a bit of clever PR to corner both the US military and a big oil exec, a classic David vs. Goliath moment. That spirit of brains over brawn resonates through the film, which refreshingly reveals Greenpeace as an organization that understands the art of intelligent persuasion. I was half expecting the stereotypical “reckless activist” portrayal, but the film balanced our determination with our compassion; of course we love whales, but we also understand people.

That’s not to say there weren’t a few appropriately firey moments within the frozen landscape. An early scene features Cindy getting kicked out of an oil-lease auction after she demands that the Greenpeace bid be read. That kind of treatment still takes place today as our activists fight climate change, and look for opportunities to speak out wherever they can.

And while this is a heart-warming movie, I hope everyone who sees it leaves the theater with an awareness of some chilly reality. Most of the issues this film introduces are still very much at the top of our agenda today.

Greenpeace tirelessly fights against any and all drilling, and though we don’t object to native communities in the far north taking of a few whales for their survival, we continue to work toward ending all commercial whaling. You can join us by taking action now and asking President Obama to Save the Whales.

This film did a praiseworthy job demonstrating the positive power we, as humans, can generate when we work toward a greater good. It also made it clear that protecting those majestic animals is really a reflection of our commitment to our environment, to our planet, and -- ultimately -- to ourselves.

A great weekend for the Rainbow Warrior in NYC

Myriam Fallon — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:39:00 +0100

This weekend I had the pleasure of experiencing Greenpeace’s newest ship, the new Rainbow Warrior, while it is docked in New York City for it’s first ever visit to the United States. I was brought on board the brand new sailing vessel to help introduce her to the public.

For two days I talked to hundreds of people from all walks of life. I showed people the ship’s completely unique design, introduced guests to crewmembers, and told why our ships are so important to the work we do. In many cases, I introduced children and adults alike to Greenpeace for the first time and got to explain how we go about defending the environment.

One of my favorite moments of the weekend came half way through Sunday when I gave a tour to several parents with children between the ages of 6 and 12. The kids looked around the boat in awe and scrambled to sit in the captain’s chair as the 3rd mate showed them how to navigate and sail. As I explained one of the Rainbow Warriors small jet boats to the tour a little boy raised his hand to ask a question.

“How many animals do you think you’ve saved?” he asked. I thought about that for a second and the only answer I could come up with was “a lot.” How do you help a child understand over fishing and deforestation, let alone climate change? I told him that we work to save all sorts of animals in the oceans from being killed by bad fishing practices and that we’re trying to stop rainforests from being burned down so that the animals can continue to live in them.

He listened intently and nodded as he considered what I was saying. Then he looked up, smiled and said “awesome."

Times Up! Bike Brigade Brings Supplies to Rainbow Warrior III

Myriam Fallon — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:40:00 +0100

The Rainbow Warrior III, Greenpeace’s newest ship, arrived in New York City Friday morning after an 18-day journey from Europe. After the long trip the crew needed to replenish the food supplies on board so they called ahead to the 4th Street Food Co-op in Manhattan. To their delight, the co-op teamed up with a Time's Up! bike brigade to deliver the fresh produce when the ship arrived at Chelsea Piers!

Delicious fresh food is always a great way to start a stay in a new city, but having it delivered on bike trailers was an extra treat for the 15 crew members who have been living on board the ship. Thanks 4th Street Food Co-op!

Check out the co-ops blog for more information and photos of this special delivery!

Photo from 4th Street Food Co-op.

Now Arriving in New York, Greenpeace’s Legendary Rainbow Warrior

Jay Ferrari — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:49:00 +0100

This morning around 9 a.m., a newly christened Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior sailed in to New York, completing its maiden cross-Atlantic voyage from Europe. If you’re in or near New York City, head down to Chelsea Piers, Pier 59 at 23rd Street and the Hudson River to see her up close. Official public tours will be offered tomorrow, Saturday 28th and continue on Sunday 29th January between 10am and 4pm both days. Private tours for groups can be arranged through Friday*.

This is the third incarnation of our famous vessel (some say infamous, but we take that as a compliment). The first was bombed by the French Navy in 1985. The second was retired on August 16, 2011.

The Rainbow Warrior is the first ship to fly the Greenpeace flag that was not converted from another vessel. She’s entirely purpose-built, specific to our global scientific research and environmental issue-awareness needs. She’s 190 ft in length and one of the world’s greenest ships. At full sail of 13,500 sq ft and a giant 180ft “A Frame”, she can outrun larger conventionally powered ships under sail alone.

In a living tribute to Greenpeace’s continuity of mission, today’s Rainbow Warrior is captained by Peter Willcox, who was at the helm when the first Rainbow Warrior was attacked. After leaving New York, the Rainbow Warrior, Captain Wilcox will sail her down the East coast, visiting Baltimore, Southport, Fort Lauderdale and St. Petersburg. From there, she’ll make her way to Brazil.

For more than four decades, Greenpeace ships have been both visible symbols of Greenpeace, and vital players in the pursuit of our campaigns. The Rainbow Warrior has blocked illegal timber shipments, confronted whalers, and hosted uncountable scientific experiments. She is in many ways both our most poetic symbol and our toughest front-line fighter.

We’re proud to know that her heroic legacy continues, and that the world’s oceans are once again home to the Rainbow Warrior.

*Please note that closed toed shoes are required aboard the ship and that, unfortunately, the vessel is not wheelchair accessible.

SEC to Investigate TransCanada's Lies on Keystone XL Job Claims

Jesse Coleman — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:28:00 +0100

Today Greenpeace sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asking them to stop TransCanada Corporation from continuing to illegally mislead investors and the American public with wildly inflated job creation claims for its Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

TransCanada and its allies in Congress (TransCanada has spent $1.3 million dollars on lobbying for Keystone XL) have routinely used deceitful jobs numbers in their support of the Keystone pipeline, claiming that it would create 20,000 jobs in America. In reality the pipeline will create less than 1/3^rd that number, possibly far less according to studies by the EPA and Cornell University.

Furthermore, TransCanada knows its jobs claims are exaggerated. According to the company, the U.S. pipeline would create jobs at a rate 67 times higher per mile of pipeline than the rate given to Canadian officials for the miles of pipeline it would build in that country.

SEC rules forbid the use of "manipulative and deceptive practices" to directly affect the value of the company's stock. TransCanada CEO Russ Girling directly connected the pipeline’s approval with his company’s profits in an April 2011 earnings conference call, making his company’s manipulative and deceptive jobs data illegal according the SEC rules.

As Phil Radford, Executive Director of Greenpeace, said in a recent speech, "It’s wrong for politicians and pundits to use these false numbers, but it’s illegal for TransCanada to lie to investors. The SEC needs to take immediate action to hold TransCanada accountable for misleading investors to boost its valuation,” "TransCanada needs to knock off the propaganda and level with people that they'd create a few temporary jobs just to move dirty oil through our country so it can be shipped to Europe for maximum Big Oil profits."

Known Associates: Charles Koch, David Koch, Jack Gerard , Ken Cohen, Rex Tillerson , Stephen Miller , Tim Phillips

The big picture behind ‘Big Miracle’

Martin Lloyd — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:41:00 +0100

“This is Campbell Plowden, Whale Campaign Coordinator for Greenpeace. I’d like to let you know that the Soviet Union is going to send two icebreakers to help clear a path for the whales trapped in Alaska.”

24 years ago Greenpeace found itself caught up in the midst of a Cold War drama, as the American and Soviet governments came together to rescue three gray whales trapped in the sea ice off the Alaskan coast. The amazing story has been transformed into the feature film ‘Big Miracle’ by Universal Studios, starring Drew Barrymore as a Greenpeace activist.

To get the inside story on what really happened we got in touch with Campbell Plowden, who, in 1988 was head of the Greenpeace USA Whales Campaign. In a fascinating extended account, Campbell, now working to protect the Amazon with Amazon Ecology describes one of the craziest weeks in his 14 years with Greenpeace, and puts the Alaskan drama in the context of a wider campaign to end Icelandic whaling.

“I realized on the spot that we had no choice about whether or not we wanted to accept this incident as a natural event or ignore it as a distraction. Dealing with it had just become our mandate; I had to give it my best shot and try to use the opportunity to also save a lot more whales around Iceland.”

While the movie focuses on Barrow Alaska, Campbell's account takes us behind the scenes. He describes how Greenpeace engaged the Soviet Union, and how we pressured the Reagan Administration to put the health of the whales ahead of national politics.

“President Reagan was not known for his love for the Soviet Union, and the idea of asking this Communist giant to send one or more of their ships into U.S. waters to help save whales seemed absurd. ” ... “Greenpeace, however, had its own channel into the Evil Empire”

The rescue ended up requiring the combined efforts of the Alaskan National Guard and Coast Guard, the Inuit community in Barrow Alaska, Greenpeace, oil company Veeco, the Reagan Administration and the Soviet Union.

If you’re planning to see the film - and don't want to know what happens in the story, be warned, Campbell's account contains plenty of spoilers.

Also: here's a video report from James, our man at the movie premiere:

Day 17: Finishing the Trans-Altantic

Shea Mke — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:08:00 +0100

Shea Mke is a Greenpeace volunteer and current deckhand on the new Rainbow Warrior. She boarded when the ship began its trans-Atlantic journey to begin its maiden US voyage. Shea originally posted this on her blog.

It’s 20:15 and in twelve hours we’ll be arriving to our home for the next week at the Chelsea Pier slip #59 in Manhattan, NY. It’s been seventeen days at sea and while I have quite the adventure ahead of me still with going to the Amazon and all, I figured it was about time to describe what it’s been like on board, besides all the rainbows and whales that is.

So here’s my account of today, a day different than any other day we’ve had yet with a similar rhythm.

___

7:30 — Wake-up knock at the door tears me from a dead sleep. I fight the urge to rest just one more minute knowing I’d without a doubt fall back to sleep. I get up, pull on my work clothes and in my groggy state at least remember that we passed the Gulf Stream the evening before and it’s going to be cold so I push my shorts and tank top aside and reluctantly put on pants and grab a hoodie. I stick bobby pins in my hair, brush my teeth and do the set up ten push-ups I resolved on New Year’s to do each time I brush my teeth (on a rolling ship it makes it interesting as sometimes gravity’s on your side and other times it feels like you’ve got bricks on your back).

7:40 — I head to the mess (what on land would be the dining room) and sit down with my bowl of granola and cup of black tea trying to keep my eyes open let alone socialize.

8:00 — With a heavy load of work on the docket, I step outside on the deck to watch the sun finish rising above the horizon before starting in on the day. Moments later Sophia instructs Sjourd, Penny and I who had also been hanging out near the deck workshop, that “we must come to the bow”.

Dolphins! We watch as eight dolphins jump, glide and dart mere feet in front of the bow, playing in the momentum of our forward motion and the early morning light. After ten minutes about twenty dolphins had rendezvoused at the bow while another dozen jumped in crescent shaped arches to our starboard. A beautiful sunrise, dolphins and sailing on the ocean–a pretty fantastic way to start the day!

8:10 — Morning chores. All the deckhands are responsible for the daily cleaning on the ship. Each day consists of basically a choice between cleaning the 7 heads (toilets), the mess or the alleyways & companionways (hallways & stairwells).

9:00 — Deck wash begins. We bring out the water compressor, scrub brushes, degreaser and rags and go to work to make the ship sparkle for our entry into NYC.

10:00 — Smoko (coffee break!).

10:30 — More deck washing.

12:00 — Lunch.

13:00 — Finish the deck wash. I spent the whole hour and a half using degreaser coupled with elbow grease to scrub the area around the engine exhaust fans. The muscles on my right arm are already getting disproportionately stronger than my left.

14:30 — Smoko of tangerines and almonds.

15:00 — One of the projects given to me has been to replace the float and stainless steal eye on the painter line to one of our inflatable boats on board. I love rope work so I treated myself to a break from the deep cleaning and spliced the new float onto the line and also spliced a new eye onto the end, a feat that gave great satisfaction as I had never spliced eight-strand before and in fact, had only just learned to splice three-strand early on this crossing. I’m proud to report, they both look great and now I just whip them in a few places and they’ll be set.

Next up, finishing to clean the galley. Part of our anticipation of arriving in NYC tomorrow morning is the inspections by both customs and the Coast Guard. As a result, we’ve been really overhauling the ship getting ready for everything that there checklists advise they might require of us–things like an inventory of all food, feet of line (rope–so on a sailing ship, you can imagine that’s quite the chore to inventory!), liters of detergent, etc. Similarly, a deep clean was done of the entire galley and so I rounded out my workday in the cold of the walk-in cooler, finishing its cleaning with a thorough scrubbing, sweeping and mopping.

17:15 — Relaxation time. I took off my steal-toed boots and headed up to the lounge with the book I’ve been reading, Warriors of the Rainbow, a chronically of the Greenpeace movement from 1971 to 1979. I found it on the bookshelf one of the first days I was on board and figured it’d be good to learn about the early days of Greenpeace plus it was sure to be packed with some good adventure stories. And that it is!

We adjusted our clocks one last time before arriving in NY and so I had an extra hour between the end of the day and dinner to read and got to the part in the story where the crew tracks down a Russian whaling fleet for the first time off the coast of California and armed with three zodiac inflatables they intend to position themselves between the whales and the whalers harpoon. Reading the stories from these past “warriors” really makes me all the more proud and still somewhat in awe that I’m on board this beautiful, new schooner. And even though this Rainbow Warrior is new, it carries that history as its heartbeat.

17:30 — Headed up to see the sunset but was a bit too late and it was overcast and cold anyhow.

18:00 — Dinner time. With just cauliflowers, potatoes and peppers remaining for fresh vegetables, Wendy still manages to cook up another great meal.

19:25 — I write in my journal and check my email (and now of course, write this up).

22:00 — I’ll brush my teeth, do my ten push-ups, read some more and fall to sleep.

Tomorrow we’ve got a 6:30am wake-up call as we’ve got a lot to do before we get to Chelsea Pier, yet even on a normal day it’s easy to be in bed by ten. And that’s part of the beauty of the ship so far–each day is simple and filled with deep satisfaction from the hard work that leaves you exhausted to the brilliant sunsets and whale spotting to great camaraderie and story-telling.

So that’s it–a day in the life. NY will be totally different with the open ship days and the special events happening with the community. I’m excited!

Whale Stories

Shea Mke — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:57:00 +0100

Unaware of the time change that had taken place, I thought it was nearing on 18:00 and time for the daily rendezvous and number of us have made habit of to watch the sunset from the bridge deck. Off by an hour but completely content to sit and watch the horizon turn into cotton candy puffs of pink and purple clouds, I was in the perfect place when Lila came out from the bridge pointing to port and exclaiming that there were whales.

Dan slowed the ship and made an announcement over the PA so the rest of the crew could partake in such a treasured and rare occasion. For the next twenty minutes or so we watched the whales occasionally surface and blow air creating huge swaths of glassing rings on the water in their wake. How beautiful and magnificent!

Surely inspired by the whales earlier, Pete, our Captain who’s been with Greenpeace since the early days, announced during dinner that he’d be hosting storytelling session of Whale Stories on the bridge at 19:30. I believe our whole crew of 16 packed into the bridge when the time rolled around, though it’s hard to be sure as all of the lights are off and my night vision isn’t quite honed yet. Regardless, there were a bunch of us packed into the bridge and for the next couple of hours we all sat and stood in the dark silence listening to Pete as he spun two great stories.

The first story was at the beginning of his career with Greenpeace and aboard the–at the time new–Rainbow Warrior I. Having quickly become the Captain of the ship, Pete told of one of the first anti-whaling actions he partook in which resulted in six people being left on the Soviet shore while the Soviet police tried to chase down the Rainbow Warrior via two military ships and a helicopter. They made it safely back to Alaska before being captured and were able to get the film they had shot of the illegal atrocities processed and publicized exposing the USSR for the illegal whaling that it had been conducting and also getting the 6 crew freed from jail. What a thriller!

The second story was one in which I’d heard bits and pieces of before, yet to hear the emotional story directly from someone who had been there, let alone the Captain, was pretty incredible. Pete shared the story of how the French government bombed the Rainbow Warrior I in a New Zealand port, killing one crew member on board and sinking the ship. Instead of retelling the story, I’ll urge you to watch this video and let Pete tell you himself:

RWIII: The First Day

Shea Mke — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:46:00 +0100

0:33 – I’ve arrived on the ship. This is a dream.

I’m laying in my bunk — I’ve got the bosun’s cabin and it’s unclear if it’s mine for the long-haul or just for the night. A shower and sink in the room, table and bench and bunks made up in white fluffy blankets and pillows. I feel the familiar swaying of being on the water, of my life falling into the rhythm with that of the sea again.

Rock me to sleep Rainbow Warrior love, and let’s see if my sleeping dreams can compare to this dream come true.

20:53 – We are at sea!

Quite a memorable first day aboard the Rainbow Warrior III! We spent the day readying the ship in hopes we’d set off in the evening which in fact, we have! We left Las Palmas Grand Canaria a little after 17:00. I worked on the foredeck with Penny and Lila hauling in and storing the docklines and securing the two anchors. It was a good test of my sea legs as the bow rolled and swayed over waves, yet all went well. What a huge privilege to be aboard the ship and for the Atlantic crossing no less!

Gazing out at the hills and islands of Grand Canaria slip into the distance with Penny, the bosun, she explained that it’d take about two weeks to cross the Atlantic (our deadline to get to NY is Jan 29th), spend a few weeks in the US and then head on to Brazil. It was encouraging to hear the timeline and confirm I’ll head to Brazil with the ship!

And now I’m in my bunk, freshly haven taken a hot shower in my own cabin and about to head to bed–the prospect of 9 hours of sleep sounds amazing. I’ve felt a bit lightheaded all day and wondered if it’s exhaustion or seasickness but I’m feeling pretty confident it’s just exhaustion and probably a bit of dehydration from all the traveling. On a similar note, I realized my lunch today was the first proper meal I’ve eaten since last Wednesday night in Madison.

I’m still in amazement that I’m here. Penny pinched me earlier to confirm it was real.

At the World Economic Forum: Calling for a real transformation - now!

Kumi Naidoo — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:16:00 +0100

If I bump into Professor Klaus Schwab, who started and still runs the World Economic Forum here in Davos, I will challenge him on the purpose of the event. Schwab has described the WEF as “a platform for collaborative thinking and searching for solutions, not for making decisions”.

The Davos meeting may not be a bastion of democratic or transparent democracy and participation, but it is a place where solutions should be discussed and plans made to tackle the cacophony of crises that our planet in faces. But important decisions can also be taken here, decisions by corporations, politicians or CEOs.

The time has come for this gathering of powerful people to address the escalating public frustration over growing inequity both between and within countries. It is time they explained how we will shift from primary resource consumption to protection; how we will shift to production processes free of toxic materials rather than being dumped into the environment at the end. It is also time for the privileged to explain how they will put an end to the corruption of our environment and shared global space for private profit.

I have first hand experience of how the seeds of good decisions and steps in the right direction can be made here in Davos. Last year, Facebook’s Marketing Director, Randi Zuckerberg heard Greenpeace demands to Facebook to “unfriend” coal and support clean energy. Randi listened and took our call - and t-shirt - back to Facebook’s office, and by the end of 2011 Facebook had agreed to support clean energy, committing themselves to having a clear preference for locations where clean and renewable energy is available to power their massive and energy hungry data centers.

We already know what the solutions are, what is needed now is leadership from governments, and commitment from CEOs to take urgent and ambitious actions to protect our environment, and to create a sustainable future for our children and grandchildren; governments need to start listening to the people, and not the polluters, or else they are consciously sleepwalking us into crisis of epic propositions, and jeopardizing all of our futures, including their own.

The Greenpeace energy revolution scenario, which was developed with business partners, shows that we can deliver energy to more people, especially the poor in developing countries, and cut carbon emissions by more than 80% by 2050 while creating more jobs in the process. This can be achieved through investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy instead of dirty fossil fuels and dangerous nuclear power. By implementing the Energy Revolution, governments could help businesses create 3.2 million more jobs by 2030 in the global power supply sector alone.

On behalf of Greenpeace, and all of its supporters I will be inside the WEF to hold corporations and governments to account and to ensure that the voices speaking against ecological destruction and rising inequality are heard inside the halls of the WEF.

Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo is attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

Big Win in Alaska: Courts Uphold Protections for Endangered Steller Sea Lions

John Hocevar — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:57:00 +0100

For decades, it has been clear that unsustainable levels of fishing has not only impacted fish populations, but also the species that eat fish. In Alaska, factory fishing has removed much of the fish available to Steller sea lions and fur seals, at heavy costs. The National Marine Fisheries Service confirmed this recently, with an extensive analysis of the best available science known as a Biological Opinion. NMFS found that additional conservation measures were needed, and closed some of the waters around the Aleutian Islands to trawling.

The fishing industry and their friends in the Alaskan state government promptly sued NMFS, attacking NMFS scientists in the media and even before Congress. Greenpeace, Oceana and Earthjustice intervened on behalf of NMFS, supporting the science and making the case that the closures put in place were necessary but probably not enough. The courts sided with us, upholding the science and the new protections NMFS put in place.

We have come a long way since the last time we were in a courtroom to protect Steller sea lions from unsustainable fishing. After we sued NMFS in 1998 for failing to prevent fisheries from taking too much food away from sea lions, the courts agreed with us. More than a decade later, it’s nice to be able to support NMFS’ efforts.

Of course, there is still a long way to go. The measures put in place to prevent the extinction of Steller sea lions seem to have halted their decline in most places, but some parts of their range are still in very bad shape.

Perhaps worse still, NMFS seems to have learned very little from the experience with sea lions. It took a lawsuit and an Endangered Species Act listing and to force the agency to protect sea lions ten years ago. Meanwhile, nothing is being done to stop the steady decline of fur seals, which is clearly linked to the same problem of fisheries taking too much of their prey.

The battle continues.

Coral Tears in Thailand are Shed for All the World’s Oceans

Phil Kline — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:43:00 +0100

CORAL BLEACHING MEANS THESE TWO FISH MIGHT HAVE WHAT’S LEFT OF THE REEF ALL TO THEMSELVES.

Surin Island is your quintessential tropical paradise 60 km off the west coast of Thailand. It has the postcard-pretty beaches, swaying palms, and sparkling ocean. It is also in the midst of one of the world’s most beautiful coral reefs. That’s where my wife and I found ourselves this past Christmas -- a sublime natural setting where we hoped to celebrate the holiday.

Unfortunately, our celebration turned in to a mournful memorial. Strolling along the shore, we found two Thai college girls sitting on the sand, crying openly. Their distress was profound; of course, we stopped to ask what was wrong, and what we could do to help.

But there was nothing we could do. The reason for their grief was far beyond our power to fix. It wasn’t any typical travel inconvenience like a lost passport or stolen credit card. The reason was the reef itself. It was dead.

The girls then told us how they came to this very same place only a year ago, reveling in the reef’s beauty, the lattice of delicate corals, the dazzling spectrum of fish. It was so magnificent that they promised to return for what they hoped would become a tradition of Christmas Day snorkeling.

They had been in the water just minutes before my wife and I walked by, and were grief-stricken because everything that made that reef beautiful was gone. My first snorkeling dive confirmed what those girls saw. A staggering 90% of the hard corals were dead. Just a year ago hundreds -- even thousands -- of fish frolicked, clouding the reef with bursts of energy and color. Now, there were occasional clusters of perhaps five or six looking lonely and out of place.

So what happened? This pristine ecosystem, a gem in the sea of Southeast Asia, had fallen victim to coral beaching -- a horrible phenomenon occuring when the water temperature warms above the long-term average. The corals expel their symbiotic algae, then turn white, and ultimately die. This was the ghostly vision that greeted me on my first dive.

I’ve since learned that this started happening late last year and stretches from India to Singapore. All of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia have been seriously affected. During our vacation, we planned to do some reef exploring in Burma and had been warned that the dynamite fishing might put us off, but given the almost complete destruction caused by bleaching, blowing up the reefs with dynamite now seems mild by comparison.

This heartbreaking reality showed me, in very personal terms, catastrophic impact caused by man-made climate change is very real. It’s not something on the horizon; it’s here today. Along with bleaching, there’s ice loss, ocean acidification, warming seas, coral reef ecosystem destruction, island nations going under water, unprecedented extreme weather and more. In the case of my beloved reef, its demise is already having a tragic impact on human life as local economies dependent on its health are decimated.

We’re past the point of preparation. The fight for our oceans is upon us, and we all need to get involved if we want to keep even a faint hope that we’ll leave a livable world for future generations.

Please, join us and add your voice in this fight to save our planet. This means so much more than saving pretty dive destinations. This is about the very health of the world in which we live.

We need to fight back against the fossil fuel use that’s accelerating climate change.

We need to establish and protect ocean sanctuaries to give all ocean life a chance to thrive.

From the barely visible plankton to the biggest blue whale, when we save our oceans, we save our planet -- and we’ll save ourselves.

Happy Birthday Mr. SuperPAC - 2 Years of Citizen United

Jesse Coleman — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:46:00 +0100

Two years ago the Supreme Court delivered a near-fatal blow to our already weakened campaign finance regulations by giving corporations the right to spend unlimited amounts of money on supporting or attacking political candidates. The decision is called Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, and it changed one hundred years of election laws with the stroke of a pen. Now, top executives within corporations can use their company’s immense treasuries to tip public opinion in favor of the candidate that supports their corporate agenda. These corporate manipulators do this through so-called corporate SuperPACs, which spend immense sums on PR campaigns designed to frame important campaign issues in their own interest. SuperPACs spent well over $300 million in 2010 mid-terms on attack ads and other public outreach - more than three times the amount spent in the 2006 mid-terms.

A handful of large SuperPACs funded by either wealthy individuals or anonymous corporations – including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Karl Rove’s American Crossroads, and the American Action Network – have threatened candidates for the 2012 elections with corporate cash, promising to spend over $100 million apiece on political communications to influence the election. (Source: NY Times)

These shadowy entities use their corporate money as a threat, promising millions of dollars in retribution if candidates don’t adopt policies approved by the richest Americans. A recent example of how these PACs will distort the discourse is a vicious and deceitful attack ad being run by Americans for Prosperity, a Koch-brothers-funded front group that reportedly expects to spend $200 million during the 2012 elections. The AFP ad, which attacks Obama’s character and clean energy jobs programs, was powerful enough to elicit a response from the Obama campaign, which attempted to set the record straight with its own video. The response to the Koch/AfP ad was the first one that president Obama’s reelection campaign released this year, an indication of how seriously these unaccountable corporate-funded attacks are being taken. The result will surely be an election-year arms race of spending on ads and other messages, with opposing campaigns having to spend greater and greater amounts of money just to counter all the corporate donations aligned against them.

The SuperPACs like AfP (which also has deep ties to the Tea Party, and thus an organized ground war to align with its arsenal of attack ads) do not have to disclose where they get their money, and have only superficial restrictions on their ability to coordinate with their favorite candidates, making it obvious that anyone who wishes to get elected this year will have to bend their platform in order to serve one or another corporate interest. It’s no wonder that dozens of groups (including Greenpeace) have endorsed the protest events that mark the second anniversary of the Citizens United decision.

Regardless of the outcome of the 2012 elections, one thing is clear already: The Supreme Court has increased the power of corporations and wealthy individuals like the Koch brothers to buy and sell politicians. Court watchdogs including Common Cause suggest the Court's independence has also been tainted by the same corporate cash: Justices Thomas and Scalia have both reportedly attended private gatherings of wealthy individuals organized by Charles Koch.

As in so many other areas of public life, we have witnessed the gradual meshing of corporate and judicial power over recent decades (a history we explored in our recent analysis of the Powell memo). As activists recently pointed out, we effectively live in the age of the Supreme Koch.

To protest the corporate takeover of our elections, join the coalition of over 60 groups that have organized a week of action to protest the Citizens United decision and its effects on our elections. There is even a map to help you find an event in your area.

To learn more, check out this great explanation on Citizens United here: http://storyofcitizensunited.org

People power pushes back on Internet censorship

Brian Fitzgerald — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:48:00 +0100

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU everyone who took action yesterday, and took a historic stand against Internet censorship. We're proud to have stood shoulder to shoulder with some of the world's biggest websites, and all of you, in opposing SOPA and PIPA -- the two pieces of legislation in the US designed to prevent copyright piracy on the web, but which would have granted corporations unprecedented powers to limit free expression.

It was an amazing day; PIPA, which had looked certain to become law, has now lost a quarter of its sponsors. At least 18 senators heard the roar of opposition and reversed their support for the bill in the course of the day.

25 Greenpeace websites worldwide went dark in solidarity with activism from Google, Wikipedia, Craigslist, Wired, Reddit, Boing Boing, Reporters Without Borders, Pressthink, McSweeney's, MoveOn, more than 25,000 Wordpress blogs, and untold numbers of sites great and puny.

Tweets about SOPA/PIPA peaked at 267,000 per hour.

Google drew 4.5 million signatures to its opposition petition, nearly 1.5% of the US population.

This was an extraordinary show of force. But we came perilously close to the US government enacting a law that would not only have destroyed the Internet as we know it, but empowered corporations to silence criticism and switch off pressure for reform from people-powered groups like Greenpeace. And despite yesterday's advance, the threat has not gone away.

Just weeks ago, SOPA and PIPA had overwhelming bipartisan support. Hollywood spent an estimated $US 94 million lobbying for these bills. SOPA nearly went to a vote six months ago, and would have passed had it not been for a last minute hold from a lone senator who recognised its flaws and dangers. As Reddit Cofounder, Alexis Ohanian put it, the legislation was like a botched medical operation to cure piracy, where not a single one of the doctors who had been called in knew anything about how the human body worked or how to wield a scalpel.

Not only would the bill have failed its intended aims, it would have driven a massive economic shift away from an Internet structured around creativity, entrepreneurship, and free expression, toward an online police state, run by corporate mob bosses, in which everyone was presumed guilty.

Here's a great explication by Clay Shirky of some of the history behind these bills and what the music and movie industries were trying to do with SOPA/PIPA:

As our chief activist Kumi Naidoo pointed out, whatever noble intent these bills may have had -- and stopping real piracy is a noble intent -- the possibility for abuse by environmental criminals was staggering. Victories that we've won over the last few years against corporate Goliaths would have been impossible had SOPA/PIPA been isolating copyright claims from the scrutiny of courts and suffocating the ability of our online activists to share and spread their outrage, opposition, and action.

The Washington Post's Wonk Blog listed greenpeace.org as hosting one of the top 5 blackout pages. Ironically, it wasn't ours. The design was based on an HTML template created by Zachary Johnson and posted to Reddit in the public domain for anyone's use during the protest. It was a beautiful example of exactly the kind of open-source sharing and remixing that SOPA and PIPA would kill.

What did you do to stop SOPA while the Internet was dark yesterday?

What were your favorite artifacts of the protest? Let us know in the comments.

And please, continue to speak out. The remaining supporters of the bill can be found here, along with contact details. SOPA/PIPA are not dead yet.

Obama stands up to Big Oil and polluter politicians

Phil Radford, Daryl Hannah — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:17:00 +0100

President Obama stood up to Big Oil and its puppets in Congress and denied a permit for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline yesterday. This is encouraging news for the communities whose air and water would have been directly threatened by this pipeline, from Canada to Nebraska to the Gulf Coast. And it's an important piece of the struggle to avert a runaway climate catastrophe. But since the Keystone XL has become a pitched political battle, this announcement is also an encouraging affirmation of the power of people, creative protest, and grassroots organizing in the face of the entrenched power and big bucks of the oil industry.

Earlier this month, American Petroleum Institute CEO Jack Gerard, the oil industry's top lobbyist, directly threatened President Obama with "huge political consequences" if he rejected Keystone XL. Speaker of the House John Boehner has been pushing the tar sands pipeline at every opportunity. Like most of the members of Congress that support Keystone XL, Boehner has taken piles of campaign cash from the very oil companies that were hoping to boost their profits with this scheme to pipe Canadian tar sands through America's heartland to the Gulf of Mexico and overseas markets.

This immense pressure from the oil industry came after months of grassroots organizing against the pipeline, weeks of creative protest in Washington DC where we and more than 1200 others were arrested in front of the White House, and a broad, diverse coalition mobilizing all around the United States and Canada to stop this pipeline.

Faced with a clear choice between Big Oil and all its money, threats, and politicians on the one hand, and a people powered movement determined to stop this enormous threat to our air, water, food security, and climate on the other, President Obama made the right call.

Of course, this does not mean the end of the oil industry's efforts to expand production of the tar sands. TransCanada and other oil companies will continue to seek other ways to exploit the tar sands, and the politicians who do their bidding will devise new bills to push tar sands pipelines. No doubt the American Petroleum Institute will take out even more astroturf "Vote 4 Energy" ads slamming the President for his decision.

When that happens, we hope President Obama remembers how good it feels to stand up to the oil industry's political threats, and keep working to make good on his promise to "end the tyranny of oil" and move America to a clean energy future.

We're sorry, you're not allowed to read this.

Kumi Naidoo — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:40:00 +0100

In the history book of bad ideas, the concept of giving corporations the right to censor the Internet has to rank among the worst ever.

But that's what the impact of two bills recently introduced in the US Congress would be if they, or anything like them, were enacted into law, and it's causing a righteous ruckus among free speech activists around the world.

In solidarity with major sites like Wikipedia, Boing Boing, and Reddit, Greenpeace USA's website will be dark for 12 hours on the 18th of January to protest these two bills specifically, and the idea of empowering internet censorship in general.

>>TAKE ACTION: Tell your Congressional Representitives to Protect Online Freedom of Speech.

If you don’t know what SOPA and PIPA are, you should look them up. While touted as efforts to curtail film and music piracy, they have the potential to allow corporations to censor online activism as well.

In a nutshell, these bills will enable corporations to effectively shut down websites that they believe are infringing their copyrights and trademarks. All they have to do is file notice (not prove to a court, but simply file notice) that their copyright has been infringed to a service provider, such as the one which registers the name greenpeace.org on the Internet, and that entity has 5 days to take action to end service to the site.

If in fact there was no copyright infringement, the service provider is immune from lawsuit by Greenpeace for taking the site down or suspending any other services.

In effect, the law says that copyright infringement is so great a crime that corporations can play judge and jury, presume guilt, and possibly infringe civil rights, free speech, and privacy in the defense of their interests.

They can demand that search engines and social networking sites block access to the targeted site, and that payment services and advertisers cease doing business with the accused site. A previous provision, that internet service providers block access to the site through the domain name system, has for now been removed: a good thing, perhaps, but not if it means a better chance for the rest of the bill’s draconian measures going through.

So what’s this got to do with online activism?

Well, it so happens that trademark infringement is part of the bill as well — and that is an open invitation to corporate abuse of SOPA/PIPA to silence critics.

At Greenpeace, we’ve managed to put some judo moves on some mighty corporations by leveraging their own advertising budgets against them. Whether it’s spoofing VW’s most expensive superbowl ad of all time, spreading the word about a spoof of the American Petroleum Institute’s support for the Keystone XL tarsands pipeline, creating a Kit-Kat ad that illustrates the rainforest destruction inherent in palm-oil production, or putting up a look-alike Apple.com website to push for better e-waste policies, we’ve rigorously exercised our right to free speech in freely speaking out against corporate abuse of the environment, and won many a campaign victory doing so.

We use corporations' own language, their own marketing, their own strength against them -- which is sometimes the only way that an entirely supporter-funded operation like ours can afford to put a spotlight on the negative side of their operations.

Thing is, while court case after court case has agreed with us that parody is a protected form of free speech, the corporations at the pointy end of our parodies tend to disagree. Exxon/Esso took us to court in France over alleged copyright infringement of their logo when we launched a campaign against them:
Esso said we were in violation of their intellectual property rights. We said it was free speech. The court agreed with us, and in an historic decision, we won. But had that decision been left to Exxon/Esso, we would have been shut down.

Nestle's Kit Kat brand famously failed when they attempted to have our spoof video featuring their brand -- and critical of their support for rainforest destruction -- removed from YouTube for trademark violation. Hundreds of our supporters reposted the video on other sites and their own Facebook profiles.

Eventually, YouTube’s lawyers intervened and the video was restored. Under SOPA, YouTube *itself* could have been shut down for hosting our Kit Kat video. Facebook could have gone dark for hosting supporter samizdat. Greenpeace.org would have gone dark worldwide. And Kit Kat owner Nestle never would have been compelled by our supporters and their customers to revise their policy on palm oil procurement, a move which has struck a major blow to an industry which is mowing down orang-utan habitat in Indonesia to plant palm trees.

Which is why you need to oppose SOPA/PIPA. While the Obama administration has indicated they would veto any bill with some of the more draconian measures that have been considered, and SOPA itself has been "shelved indefinitely" we need to send a message, loud and clear, about how far we'll go to stop corporate censorship.

If you are a US citizen, write your representative. If you live outside the US, sign this petition. If you want to do more, check out these suggestions from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

More than ever, the networked world is holding corporate interests accountable for their environmental and human rights abuses. Don’t let people power be silenced. Stop corporate censorship of the Internet.

Photo of the Month - December 2011

bmeyers — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:26:00 +0100

I find the end of the year a good time to look back, contemplate
events and appreciate the beautiful and good of the earth. For some,
the holidays are a time to acquire the latest electronic gadget, to
buy and give new things. Seeing all the flashy advertising promoting
the latest gear, I started thinking about all the once desirable items
after they are discarded; the consequences of conspicuous consumption
and the power of photographs to reveal problems and to force real
changes. The December photo of the month is such a photo. An iconic
image that helped bring about real and positive change.

Like an Exhibit A, this photo helped overcome computer maker Apple
resistance and change the way old computer parts are handled.
At the time the image was created in 2006, Greenpeace was ranking the
electronics industry for the amount of toxic materials in their
products and how involved they were in ensuring their products were
recycled responsibly. We still do. Dell jumped ahead and began to take back all of
their equipment. Apple was falling way behind other makers and
refusing to talk about making changes. Greenpeace decided to talk to
the company through their customers and this image helped them
understand the issue. It shows a colorful Apple keyboard in the hands
of a Chinese child in front of a huge stack of obsolete electronics.
After a year of "Green My Apple" events, Apple finally got the point
and announced plans to stop putting toxic materials in their products
and to start responsibly recycling their equipment.

Published in reports, displayed at news conferences and on web pages,
this image kept the campaign alive and directed. This is the power of
photography to reveal the truth and inspire action

Canada: Climate Criminal

Rex Weyler — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:11:00 +0100

At the dawn of the 21st century a new political regime has transformed Canada from global hero – once standing up for peace, people, and nature – to global criminal, plunging into war, eroding civil rights, and destroying environments.

What happened to Canada? Oil. And not just any oil, but the world’s dirtiest, most destructive oil. Canada’s betrayal at the Durban climate talks – abandoning its Kyoto Accord commitments – is the direct effect of becoming a petro-state.

By the late 20th century, oil companies knew that the world’s conventional oil fields were in decline and oil production would soon peak, which it did in 2005. These companies, including sovereign oil powers such as PetroChina, turned their attention to low-grade hydrocarbon deposits in shale gas, deep offshore fields, and Canada’s Alberta tar sands. Simultaneously, inside Canada, oil companies began promoting the political career of the son of an Alberta oil executive, the conservative ideologue Stephen Harper.

Shell Oil opened operations in the tar sands in 2003. In 2004, the same year Canada signed the Kyoto Accord, committing to reduce carbon emissions, oil companies began to form “think tanks” and astroturf groups in Canada to establish the oil agenda and promote Harper as Conservative Party leader. Two years later, in 2006, Harper’s Conservatives formed a minority government with 36% of the popular vote and launched Canada’s petro-state era, slashing environmental regulations, joining US Middle East wars, and launching a tar sands campaign, one of the most ecologically destructive industrial projects in human history.

In Durban, in December 2011, after mocking climate science and common decency, Canada’s Environment Minister, Peter Kent announced that Canada would abandon the Kyoto deal, abrogating a legally binding international agreement, which Canada had signed seven years earlier.

The Canadian government has become the policy arm and public relations voice of the international oil industry, discarding its reputation as an ethical country. Millions of Canadians have expressed outrage at the government that abandoned them and shamed Canada on the world stage. These voices are rarely heard in Canada’s corporate media. Meanwhile, Canadians witness an erosion of free press and civil rights within their own nation. They should not be surprised.

Life as an oil resource colony

“Oil and democracy do not generally mix,” explains Terry Karl in The Paradox of Plenty: Oil Booms and Petro-States. Oil is a “resource
curse” for local populations, as experienced by Nigeria, Indonesia, Venezuela, Iran, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and other nations. Oil rich nations attract oil industry patrons, who tend to support dictators. Petro-states often lose local economic sovereignty, suffer human rights atrocities, and see their environments devastated.

In the 1970s, the UK and Dutch economies experienced the oil curse as the North Sea oil and gas boom gave the illusion of prosperity while eroding sovereign economic capacity. Britain’s petro-state leader Margaret Thatcher used oil revenues to wage war, create banking empires, and subsidize elite society, while plundering the environment and leaving common citizens dispossessed of their own national heritage.

In 1977 The Economist magazine coined the term “Dutch disease” to describe the social and manufacturing decline caused by extreme resource exploitation. Oil revenues make a nation's currency appear stronger for a while, but this makes their exports more expensive and undermines manufacturing and local economy.

In 2011, the Montreal Macro Research Board warned that the “petrolization” of Canada had created “A severe case of Dutch Disease,” weakening Canadian business sovereignty, “hollowing out manufactured goods exporters” and making Canada “increasingly reliant” on oil and coal exports.

Like Thatcher's England Canada launched a scheme to privatise profits and socialize the costs of oil development. In the last decade, Canada has handed out over $14 billion in tax subsidies to oil, coal, and gas companies, while losing over 340,000 industrial jobs. A University of Ottawa study shows that oil colony economics is the largest factor in these job losses.

“Petro-states,” writes Terry Karl, become “unaccountable to the general population.” To impose the oil company agenda on their citizens, petro-regimes tend to centralize power, avoid transparency, and create a politics of lies and deceit.

Politics as war

Twice, in 2008 and 2009, Harper shut down the Canadian Parliament to avoid inquiries into his international deals, finances, and scandals including abusive treatment of Afghanistan detainees. Canada now ranks last among industrial nations in honouring freedom of information requests.

Harper’s perverse secrecy is typical of oil politics. “This is how petro states are made,” writes Andrew Nikiforuk in one of Canada’s best news sources, The Tyee; “with a quiet infection that eats away a nation's entire soul.”

In March 2011, as Harper ran Canada from secret cabinet meetings, 156 members of the government found Harper and his minority regime in contempt of Parliament for its refusal to share legislative information with other elected members.

In April 2011, Canadians learned that Harper’s liaison to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers had previously been convicted of defrauding two Canadian banks, a car dealer, and his own law clients, and had lobbied the Canadian government on behalf of his ex-hooker girlfriend.

The convicted felon, Bruce Carson, served as chief tar sands promoter, claiming “The economic and security value of oil sands expansion will likely outweigh the climate damage that oil sands create.” Carson also opposed “clean energy efforts in the U.S.” Canadian lobbyists undermined US low-carbon fuel standards by lobbying the US government.

In June 2011, on national television, another Harper henchman, Tom Flanagan, advocated assassinating WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange: “I think Assange should be assassinated,” he told Canada’s CBC. Flanagan has been one of the lead architects of Harper’s war on his own people. Before the 2011 election, in Canada’s Globe and Mail, Flanagan wrote, “An election is war by other means.” He compared an election campaign to Rome’s destruction of Carthage, whereby they “razed the city to the ground and sowed salt in the fields so nothing would grow there again.”

Alan Whitehorn of the Royal Military College of Canada wrote, “This suggests a paradigm not of civil rivalry between fellow citizens, but all-out extended war to destroy and obliterate the opponent. This kind of malevolent vision and hostile tone seems antithetical to the democratic spirit.” Harper’s government is now constructing barricades around the Parliament buildings, erecting more jails, and passing tougher criminal codes. The Canadian people, who once felt proud of their democratic institutions, now feel like the “enemy” of their own government.

Canada against the world

Outside Canada, the Harper regime has dismissed the United Nations and international opinion. Canadian government officials called the UN a “corrupt organization.” Former Canadian senior UN official Carolyn McAskie wrote in Canada and Multilateralism: Missing In Action that Canada, once respected as a UN leader, is now “spurning a whole system of organizations critical to world peace, security and development.”

Economic analyst Jim Willie wrote that Canada has “followed the Goldman Sachs path to the fields of corruption and fealty… Canada followed the Bush Doctrine of fascism, embracing the war footing … and tightening the security vice. Next they will become a Chinese commercial colony.”

When citizens around the world objected to the climate impact of the tar sands, Harper’s government attempted to rebrand the notorious carbon bomb as “ethical oil,” shamelessly ignoring the facts. The tar sands crimes against humanity and nature begin with obliterating boreal forests and soils, creating massive open-pit mines, and removing two tons of sand and soil for every barrel of oil. The thick bitumen is melted with natural gas, which requires one-third of the energy in tar sands oil to remove it. The project uses about 150-million gallons of water each day from the Athabasca river and aquifers, and the black waste turns boreal lakes into sludge pits, kills birds and other wild life, and contaminates the local ground water. Pollutants from tar sands smoke stacks have caused lung disease throughout the region and a 30% increase in cancers over the last decade. Mike Mercredi from the indigenous Fort Chipewyan Cree Nation calls the impact “slow industrial genocide.”

The crime continues with pipeline oil spills and oil tankers that threaten the entire coast of North America. Meanwhile, the tar sands project emits more that 45-million tons of greenhouse gases each year. NASA climatologist James Hansen has warned that if the tar sands are fully exploited, “it is game over for the climate.”

The French Foreign Ministry called Canada’s decision to renege on its Kyoto climate commitments, “bad news for the fight against climate change.”

Representative Ian Fry from the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu called Canada’s reversal “an act of sabotage ... a reckless and totally irresponsible act.”

The China news agency, Xinhua, called Canada’s decision “preposterous,” and China's Foreign Ministry urged Canada to “face up to its due responsibilities and duties... and take a positive, constructive attitude towards participating in international cooperation to respond to climate change.”

UN climate chief Christiana Figueres warned that Canada “has a legal obligation under the convention to reduce its emissions, and a moral obligation to itself and future generations to lead in the global effort.” UN Advisor on Water, Maude Barlow, called the tar sands “Canada’s Mordor.”

After Canada’s shameful showing in Durban, a Canadian businessman wrote to national newspaper,The Globe & Mail: “The pride of wearing the maple leaf on the lapel or backpack is gone. It's best hidden now. .. not one person in any country I have visited has been complimentary. Harper and his sheep will deny or ignore such facts while people like me lose business.”

Inside Canada, people are rising up, lead by The Wilderness Committee, Greenpeace, Council of Canadians, the Indigenous Environmental Network, the Yinka-Dene Alliance, and others. These groups need international support to halt the tar sands crime and help Canada recover its lost reputation.

Mock commercial undermines new Vote 4 Energy oil advertisement

cgibson — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:06:00 +0100

Crossposted from PolluterWatch

Today, the American Petroleum Institute unveiled its 2012 Vote 4 Energy astroturf campaign, centered around a major election-linked CNN advertising package that PolluterWatch helped expose last month with audio recordings from inside the studio. Vote 4 Energy attempts to show 'real Americans' who are 'energy voters,' meaning they are committing to vote for whichever politicians support Big Oil's dirty agenda in this election year. Typical. API also bought the back page of the A section of the Washington Post with a Vote 4 Energy ad, space that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to normal people.

Anticipating this new misinformation campaign, PolluterWatch created a mock commercial to show how API and it's oil company members (Exxon, BP, Shell, Chevron and all the usual suspects) have to fake citizen support for the oil industry:

The American Petroleum Institute (API) is Big Oil's top lobbying firm, using a $200 million budget to push dirty energy incentives and tax handouts for oil companies into our national laws. They have been caught in the past staging rallies for their Energy Citizens astroturf campaign, as revealed by Greenpeace in a confidential API memo to oil executives. Why do they fake citizen support? Probably because Americans overwhelmingly support clean energy over dirty oil development.

Knowing that API is rolling out the astroturf on cable TV, we decided to roll out actual astroturf at the location of their press conference today, literally making attendees walk down a long astroturf 'green carpet' shrouded by Big Oil logos as they entered the event. The K St lobbyists seemed downright confused by seeing the corporate logos that are normally invisible at API events.

Inside, API CEO Jack Gerard announced the campaign and promoted dirty energy development like the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline in his "State of American Energy" address. Apparently Jack thinks he's the President of United States of Energy, I thought he was just an oil lobbyist. Reporters leaving the session spoke about how bogus the event was--same old same old from Jack.

Jack Gerard may want to trick Americans into his Vote 4 Energy nonsense, but he demonstrates the same predictable rhetoric that oil companies always use to make themselves sound somewhat responsible, when everyone knows they aren't--see our profiles for ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips, all multi-billion dollar corporations, making record profits even in a global recession, and looking for more tax breaks and handouts. If you are watching election coverage on CNN and spot API's astroturf ad, don't buy the lie. Vote for yourself, not oil executives.

Mercury Safeguards for Texas Coal Plants… Finally

Ryan Rittenhouse — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:17:00 +0100

After more than twenty years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finally introduced safeguards against mercury and other air toxins from industrial sources like coal plants. In Texas, coal plants are responsible for over 70% of annual mercury emissions. This rule is decades overdue, but it means that some of the country’s dirtiest industries will finally have to clean up their act.

There’s a lot of talk in Texas about how awful the EPA is. If you believed Rick Perry and his industry buddies, you’d think the sole mission of that agency is to destroy jobs – particularly Texas jobs. Because, as we all know, the EPA hates Texas and Texans. That’s the only thing that makes sense. The big, evil, federal government just has it out for us and wants to see us suffer.

If you believe that, I have a bridge in Nacogdoches to sell you.

Coal plants pollute. This should not be news to anyone. They are just about the most polluting invention we’ve ever come up with. In a sane world we would have always held these polluters accountable for their emissions. After all, that pollution causes damage - and I’m not just talking about some polar bears floating on icebergs in the Arctic, I’m talking about us.

We humans right here in Texas have subsidized the irresponsible behavior of the coal industry for over a century by sacrificing the cleanliness of our water, our air, and the lungs of our children. These coal companies have made massive profits off of coal power by externalizing the cost of their business on all of us. The National Research Council estimates that the health costs of the SO2, NOx, and PM emissions alone from the country’s coal-fired facilities cost us approximately $62 billion a year, or $156 million on average per plant. But the coal company doesn’t have to pay that cost, nor do they charge us for it on our electric bill every month. It is hidden, externalized, and if we were to ever hold the coal companies accountable for these costs the only argument they have (that coal is “cheap” in relation to renewables) would be completely indefensible.

The Texas energy company Luminant is blaming the EPA for the planned closure of units 1 and 2 of its Monticello plant, even though Luminant was already shown by financial analyst Tom Sanzillo to be in dire economic straits, and that the company would likely have to close many of its coal plants because of it. Instead, in true coal-industry fashion, they are attempting to scapegoat EPA and avoid responsibility.

Responsibility and accountability are what “regulation” is all about. If done properly it is about ensuring that a select group of special interests do not profit excessively by exploiting others, which is exactly what has been going on for decades. Mercury contamination in Texas has led to consumption advisories for at least 13 of our lakes and rivers, as well as the entire Texas Gulf Coast.

Texas leads the nation in mercury emissions from coal plants. Six of the top ten mercury-emitting coal plants are in Texas, and the coal plant owned by the City of Austin and LCRA, the Fayette Coal Plant, is in the top 50. That plant has already been shown to cause groundwater contamination from its coal ash waste, and it is estimated that the air pollution from Fayette contributes to about 37 premature deaths every year. The sulfur emissions from that plant have killed thousands of pecan trees throughout the region, ruining the livelihood and way of life for hundreds of multi-generational pecan farmers. The City of Austin has already expressed its desire to get rid of this dirty polluter as the entire city council has already signed a pledge to move beyond coal.

It is time for Texas to stop ignoring the effects these facilities have on us all and to commend, instead of condemn, the EPA’s efforts to hold them accountable. Please lend your voice of support to EPA and President Obama on their recent implementation of these important new safeguards.

For more information on the fight against the Fayette coal plant visit FayettePowerProject.com.

Cross-posted from QuitCoal.org.

2011: Thanks for an Amazing Year of Victories for the Planet

chris eaton — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:32:00 +0100

With the nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima and the rising challenge of climate change, 2011 might seem like a dark year for the environment. Yet this year also gave me a lot of hope. The growing power of grassroots activists has achieved some stunning victories and we are taking the planet back.

In rough chronological order, here are just a few things the YOU have achieved this year:

Costco improves seafood policies in a stunning win for the oceans.

Sinar Mas palm oil branch Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) unveiled a plan to no longer destroy forests and carbon-rich peatlands in Indonesia.

We teamed up with Center for Commercial-Free Childhood, Rethinking Schools, and Friends of the Earth in asking Scholastic to reconsider a contract with the American Coal Foundation (ACF) leading to a victory for coal-free education.

The Tongass wildlands in Alaska recieved a big win in court.

The state senate voted overwhelmingly (26-4) to close Vermont Yankee nuclear plant as scheduled in March 2012.

Adidas Nike and Puma go toxic-free.

The International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) changed their rules of procedure to address the rampant corruption of their process caused by Japan’s vote buying. The IWC will no longer allow a country to pay their dues using cash, credit cards or other non transparent means.

Lego took action to tackle deforestation.

The Potomac River Generating Sation, Miami Fort Station, and Beckjord coal plants we're scheduled to shut down in stunning victories for the climate and community health.

President Obama imposed diplomatic sanctions on Iceland over their commercial Fin whale hunting.

Mattel and Barbie dropped deforestation!

Hasbro joins Mattel with a policy of avoiding buying paper that comes from endangered forest destruction.

ASMFC votes to save a small but important fish, the menhaden.

Facebook Friends Renewable Energy!

Limits set on mercury from coal power!

After 20 year battle, Green Refrigerants finally legal in the U.S.

Thanks for a wonderful 2011. See you in 2012.

Big Coal and Oil Play Dirty but EPA Mercury Ruling Proves We’d Rather Keep It Clean

Phil Radford — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:28:00 +0100

Starting today, we can begin to breathe, eat, and drink a bit easier. The EPA begins enforcement of the Mercury and Air Toxics standard, a 20-year-old mandate that set limits on mercury emissions from coal and oil-fired power plants.

These safeguards are not for show. They reflect a raft of highly credible research proving that mercury, along with other toxic metals including arsenic, chromium and nickel, is spewed in to the air as an insidious byproduct of fossil fuel burning. These metals contaminate waterways, where they infuse the bodies of commercial fish and seafood. It’s no surprise that women of childbearing age are urged not to eat salmon and shrimp. High accumulated mercury levels in these and other frequently consumed species can be devastating to the unborn and infants.

That reality gave this effort tremendous momentum -- a record-breaking 500,000 Americans reached out to the EPA in support of the standard, reinforcing the notion that we’d rather have healthy moms and babies than antiquated power plants raining contaminants down on our communities. We salute President Obama and EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson for standing fast against the antiquated interests of Big Coal and Big Oil in order to make this ruling a reality.

Unsurprising, however, has been the utility industry’s prolonged, expensive campaign of misinformation -- millions of dollars and countless lobbying hours spent trying to convince legislators, and thus the American public, that a little mercury mutating a developing human nervous system was no big deal.

Some utility companies, along with members of Congress swimming in their campaign contributions, made heel-dragging on this issue an art. Their lobbyists are understandably upset, but we’re happy to treat them to a seafood dinner if that assuages their grief.

The barrage of tiresome talking points from Republican and industry opposition about how this epitomizes big government’s job-killing intrusion on free enterprise is already underway, but let’s be as clear as the forthcoming air:

This rule will save lives. According to EPA, the rule will prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks, and 130,000 asthma attacks each year, as well as almost 3,000 cases of chronic bronchitis yearly. Emergency room visits will drop by almost 6,000!

This rule will protect the environment. In 2008, nearly half of all U.S. river-miles and lake-acres were under water contamination advisories. The vast majority of this contamination was due to mercury, including 100% of the Great Lakes. Over time, just one gram of mercury per year will contaminate a 20-acre lake.

This rule will create jobs and boost productivity. EPA estimates that this rule will lead to 46,000 short-term construction jobs and 8,000 long-term utility jobs. Currently only 17 states have established mercury emissions limits on coal plants. That’s far from adequate, especially since the states with the largest volume of mercury emissions do not have emissions limits. In addition, we’ll avoid 540,000 sick days each year, enhancing productivity while lowering health care costs.

The downside for fossil fuel facilities is negligible at best. A mere eight percent of our nation’s coal-generation capability will be taken offline in the years ahead -- decrepit, 30-to-50-year-old power plants that even utility companies agree need to be modernized or shut down outright as they have become too costly to upgrade or maintain, let alone operate.

So, let’s take a well-deserved deep breath and celebrate the fact that regard for a nation’s health and well-being has won out over the interests of a few backward-thinking bribe recipients who don’t lose sleep over causing cancer and birth defects.

Greenpeace Applauds First-Ever Limits on Mercury from Coal

Molly Dorozenski — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:47:00 +0100

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Greenpeace joined public health advocates and communities all around the country in welcoming the EPA’s first-ever limits on mercury emissions from coal and oil-fired power plants. The Mercury and Air Toxics standard also requires a reduction of toxic metals such as arsenic, chromium, nickel, and acid gases that compromise respiratory health.

”Some coal utilities made the gamble that they could dodge responsibility for pollution forever. Thankfully, for the millions of Americans who have suffered the effects of toxic mercury pollution, today they lost that bet,” said Gabe Wisniewski, Coal Campaign Director for Greenpeace.

The new standard has been the subject of expensive and misleading public relations campaigns by the utility industry, and numerous legislative attacks from members of Congress whose take significant campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry. Seeking to delay or prevent the basic health protections altogether, utilities have used front groups like the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council and industry lobby firms like Bracewell and Giuliani to sow doubt about the need, the cost, and the impact of protecting public health. Staunch coal-industry allies like Lisa Murkowski have introduced numerous pieces of legislation to delay or weaken the standard.Fortunately, the well-funded campaign of distortion was not sufficient to overcome science, law, and the demands of the more than 500,000 Americans who submitted comments to EPA in support of the standard.

Mercury from power plants makes its way into humans' bodies largely through eating fish from contaminated waterways. Women of childbearing age and their children suffer the greatest impacts by far. Numerous studies indicate that elevated mercury levels can severely impair the developing nervous systems of unborn and young children, a factor leading to the broad base of support for EPA’s action—and making attacks on the new standard all the more outrageous. “Today’s decision should be about more than politics,” Wisniewski said, “The attempts that have been made to gut critical protections for mothers and children are simply disgusting.”
Despite industry talking points that suggest today's ruling is the result of an overzealous Obama administration, in reality the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard flows from EPA's finding in 2000 that limits on these harmful pollutants were “appropriate and necessary.” Pursuant to the Clean Air Act, EPA is legally required to implement the rule, with the standards themselves based on science. In July, President Obama flouted the Clean Air Act and the advice of senior science advisors when he delayed limits on ozone pollution, which many observers saw as a victory for the utility industry lobby. The next critical battle between industry lobbyists and public health advocates is likely to be the greenhouse gas performance standards that are due in 2012.

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Last week, Greenpeace pushed Duke Energy to clarify their position on the Mercury rule. Check out Polluterwatch.com for more information on how polluters attempt to influence energy politics.

Meet the coal lobbyists who call mercury safeguards 'unfortunate'

Joe Smyth — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:33:00 +0100

After years of delay, the Environmental Protection Agency is finally issuing safeguards that will protect Americans by reducing the amount of mercury pollution and other poisons emitted by coal plants around the country. It's good news for mothers, children, communities near dirty coal plants, people who eat fish - pretty much everyone, actually, so it's no surprise that Americans overwhelmingly support rules to reduce mercury pollution from power plants. So who isn't pleased? Well, lobbyists for the dirtiest utilities like Southern Company seem pretty down about it - Scott Segal, for example, called the upcoming rule "unfortunate."

You might remember Scott Segal from his appearance on The Daily Show, in a bit about how lobbyists kill legislation. Mr. Segal works for K Street lobby firm Bracewell & Giuliani, where he represents clients like Southern Company, Arch Coal, and Duke Energy, along with his colleague Jeffrey Holmstead. (Holmstead has worked for years against meaningful mercury protections, as a top George W. Bush EPA official and as an industry lobbyist - read our new report: Jeffrey Holmstead: the Coal Industry's Mercury Lobbyist for much more). They’ve got the tough job of trying to weaken and delay these popular, life-saving rules so their clients can keep dumping mercury into our air and water without restriction.

But Mr. Segal is just a lobbyist, so we should ask which corporate interests he represents when he calls "unfortunate" a rule that will save thousands of lives and prevent tens of thousands of illnesses every year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. As it turns out, it's really just a few companies that have pushed hard against the mercury safeguards. Most utility companies have prepared for this long-delayed rule, and one analysis found that "Companies representing half of the nation’s coal-fired generating capacity—eleven out of the top 15 largest coal fleet owners in the U.S.—have indicated that they are well positioned to comply with EPA’s clean air rules because of early investments in their generating fleets."

To help hide this, Mr. Segal often represents himself as the director of a coal industry front group called the "Electric Reliability Coordinating Council." For example, a few weeks ago Mr. Segal, writing as the director of ERCC, sent a letter requesting a meeting with the Office of Management and Budget as it was analyzing the Mercury Rule. And when Mr. Segal testified before Congress against the Mercury Rule in April 2011, he also used his preferred title of director of ERCC, instead of, say, a lobbyist for Southern Company.

But what exactly is this "Electric Reliability Coordinating Council" that has spent much of the last year trying to weaken and delay these badly needed mercury safeguards? ERCC's website describes the group as "a broad-based coalition of energy companies committed to the continued viability of diverse, affordable and reliable electric power supply in the United States." But nowhere does its website list the member companies in ERCC's supposedly "broad-based coalition." When challenged in a debate on the Mercury Rule by John Walke of NRDC to disclose ERCC's full list of member companies, Mr. Segal declined after naming just four companies: Southern Company, Duke Energy, Progress Energy, and EFH (Energy Future Holdings, which owns Luminant).

It's no surprise for Southern Company and EFH - those companies have openly attacked the Mercury Rule, and were the second and third worst mercury polluters in 2010, after American Electric Power. But what about Duke Energy? Has it been using this front group to lobby against the Mercury Rule? After we sent Duke CEO Jim Rogers a letter asking if Duke was a member of ERCC, and whether the company supported the ERCC's efforts to delay and weaken the Mercury Rule, a spokesman for the company told the Charlotte Business Journal that Duke is a member of ERCC, “But, as with many organizations we are affiliated with, we don’t agree with them on every issue.”

So are ERCC's attacks on the Mercury Rule too extreme even for its coal industry member companies? Or is Duke Energy backing those attacks after all, and misleading the public about what exactly it has been doing with the $1.6 million it spent on lobbying in just the last three month period? Well as it turns out, Mr. Segal got that meeting he requested with the Office of Management and Budget. According to White House records, he was there with Jeffrey Holmstead, three executives from Southern Company - and Duke Energy's Vice President for Federal Affairs. It seems like Duke Energy has some explaining to do.

Upcoming American Petroleum Institute 'Vote 4 Energy' TV campaign disrupted by undercover activists

Kert Davies — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:50:00 +0100

Recently, Greenpeace got a rare look behind the curtain at how Big Oil stages citizen support for huge oil companies, when activists got inside a TV commercial shoot in Washington DC. The American Petroleum Institute (API), and their PR firm Edelman, were filming a new series of TV commercials that we learned API plans to air nationally on CNN starting in January. The ads, aimed at the 2012 elections, will aim to demonstrate authentic citizen support for the oil industry's agenda.

Greenpeace disrupted API's astroturf commercial plans by not following instructions and going off script, declaring support for a clean energy future and demanding an end political interference by the oil industry's lobbyists and PR firms.

Inside API’s Secretive Commercial Shoot:

Details of the CNN January ad campaign as described by API and other clips are posted below.

Activists (or…citizens) were led through the wardrobe and makeup process, approved for looks by representatives from API and Edelman Blue Advertising, before waiting their turns to go on set. Participants were required to be registered voters, explained an API representative, to protect API from "opponents" who may inquire if actors stating “I vote” are actually eligible to do so. Other recruited actors were being watched by the industry representatives during their takes, repeating lines like “That [energy independence] will come from our own energy resources – like oil and natural gas.”

Late in the morning, the API Edelman team filmed three unexpectedly honest ‘citizens’ who made clear the script did not represent their real opinions on energy. Greenpeace researcher Connor Gibson of the PolluterWatch project repeated their scripted line, “I vote,” then declared, “But I am a clean energy citizen. I will not believe the lies and influence peddling of the American Petroleum Institute, which would leave you to believe that I am a citizen that is okay with giving my tax payer dollars to billionaires and millionaires that run oil companies, the most profitable industry on the planet.” Gibson stressed movement away from a “perpetual petroleum future” and finished his speech by telling Edelman Blue President Robert McKernan “we need clean sources of energy, like wind and solar.” Listen to Gibson's full declaration and read the transcript, below.

In addition to Gibson, two other participants refused to recite API’s script. Peter Roquemore of the Sierra Student Coalition and Gabe Elsner, Deputy Director of the Checks and Balances Project showed up to the shoot with the expectation that they would provide their own assessments of American energy. Both decided not to participate once they were fed oil industry talking points on camera.

API’s New “Vote4Energy” Ad Campaign Exposed

In a taped conversation with the activists, an API communications advisor described the upcoming Vote 4 Energy advertising package in great detail: "This is scheduled to launch in January in a commercial on CNN, so it'll be a national spot...API—American Petroleum Institute—bought into an election package so anytime CNN does anything like covering the presidential debates, cover a caucus, anything like that, those will be the kinds of programs where the commercial is seen." The commercial debuts on January first. How much the deal with CNN cost remains an open question.

The API rep also said, “we are shooting a ton of people so, you know, you may make the cut, you may not, it all depends on the demographic.” Earlier in the morning, API agents were overheard expressing a need for more people of color in the commercials, noting that black and Asian demographics tend to disagree with Big Oil's warped political positions. API has been caught in the past photo-shopping print ads to include racial minorities in purchased iStock Photo to make their already fabricated supporters appear more diverse.

API BUSTED: Staging Grassroots Support for Dirty Energy

Over two years ago, Greenpeace obtained a confidential memo [pdf] from American Petroleum Institute CEO Jack Gerard, asking API member oil companies to support a campaign to fake a grassroots movement called “Energy Citizens.” Under the guise of this astroturf group, Big Oil would pay for public events similar to Tea Party rallies in support of their absurd wishlist: killing global warming legislation, unrestricted offshore oil drilling, increased tar sands development through the Keystone XL pipeline, expanded hydraulic fracturing, and no form of accountability for their immense contributions to climate change.

Luckily, the leaked memo was revealed on the front page of the Financial Times and covered in the Washington Post, Guardian and on Huffington Post. The New York Times called it "Another Astroturf Campaign," revealing what a fluke Energy Citizens was before Chevron had the chance to bus its employees to API’s first round of staged rallies, the majority of which were organized by oil lobbyists. Greenpeace called attention to API’s tactic by installing astroturf on the front entrance of API’s Washington DC headquarters, featuring the logos of its largest members: ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP and the banner CLIMATE FRAUD: FUNDED BY BIG OIL.

Given the nature of API’s newest commercial shoot, its Energy Citizens rallies where participants had to be instructed to clap (see [Astro]Turf Wars), and its repeated use of iStock Photos to boost the perception of public support for Big Oil, it is reasonable to question the authenticity of similar PR moves like the “1’m One” or “One in a Million” advertising campaigns, also run by PR company Edelman, which purport to show real people who work for the oil industry.

The American Petroleum Institute, the top lobbying firm for the oil and gas industry, has spent at least $30 million peddling its dirty influence to our federal government in the last five years, and recently announced it would start funneling oil money to politicians. With it's $200,000,000 Big Oil budget, API has played a key role in the industry’s climate denial movement by funding junk scientists like Willie Soon and coordinating a public relations strategy to create doubt over climate change.

Recordings from Inside the American Petroleum Institute Vote4Energy Commercial Shoot:

API explains the commercial deal with CNN (click to listen)

API: "Just so you know, I don't know how much they told you, but this is scheduled to launch in January in a commercial on CNN, so it'll be a national spot...API--American Petroleum Institute, uh, bought into an election package so anytime CNN does anything like covering the presidential debates, cover a caucus, anything like that, those will be the kinds of programs where the commercial is seen."

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API reveals commercial debut date (click to listen)

Greenpeace Activist: “So what date is this going to launch?”

API: “Um, January first.”

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API Says Chance of Being in Commercial “Depends on the Demographic” (click to listen)

API: “And so to your point though, we are shooting a ton of people so, you know, you may make the cut, you may not, it all depends on the demographic.”

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API explains concern over “opponents” (click to listen)

API: "And I'm sure they checked with you but you're a registered voter and all that stuff?"

Gibson: "Yeah, they asked me. I don't know how you check that, but I am."

API: "We, um...the only reason is really a lot of the, you know, the script is saying "I vote," "I vote for energy," "I vote for..." so, we at least want to be genuine in the sense that you are a registered voter. As you can imagine, there are some opponents of the oil and natural gas industry and so we always have to be very careful of, you know, what our opponents could use against us. And that is, you know, if they found out that we were using people who aren't actually registered voters, or not even eighteen, or whatever, so..."

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Production staffer explains how lines are fed to participants (click to listen)

“No they put them in costumes and then the makeup lady takes care of them and then they walk them out, and all they do is the director feeds them the lines and he talks them through it. It’s…he’ll [Gibson] be fine.”

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Transcript of Greenpeace Activist going off API script (click to listen)

Director, prompting the first scripted line: “Smile, deep breath... ‘I vote.’”

Gibson: “I vote. But I am a clean energy citizen. I do not believe in the lies and influence peddling of the American Petroleum Institute, which would lead you to believe that I am a citizen that is okay with giving my taxpayer dollars to the billionaires and millionaires that run oil companies, the most profitable industry on the planet. The American Petroleum Institute is peddling its influence to make you think people like me are fully in support of [a] perpetual petroleum future. ‘Energy Citizens’ is an astroturf front group created by the American Petroleum Institute to make it sound like there is citizen support for petroleum in our energy future, and we need clean energy – like wind and solar.”

UPDATE (1/4/2012): More about the Vote 4 Energy ad campaign can be found on the Vote 4 Energy website set up to mimic the API commercial. The actual Vote 4 Energy website excludes the hyphens.

Redefining “Cold shutdown” doesn’t hide the truth about Fukushima

Justin McKeating — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0100

A satellite image shows damage at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant In Fukushima Prefecture after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami (© DigitalGlobe)

The Japanese authorities stated last Friday that Fukushima is in a state of "cold shutdown. This is not true. At first glance, the announcement that the stricken nuclear reactors are now “stable”sounds like some rare good news from the disaster zone. Not at all. As we all know, first impressions can be deceptive.

The industry definition of “cold shutdown” means that the temperature inside a nuclear reactor has stabilized below 95℃ from the hellish temperatures of the nuclear fission process. In the case of Fukushima, this suggests the crisis is over. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, the Japanese authorities have cheated by redefining “cold shutdown” to suit the situation at Fukushima. Only operating nuclear reactors can be put into a state of “cold shutdown”. Reactors that have suffered meltdowns – like those at Fukushima – cannot be. The 260 tons of nuclear fuel inside the Fukushima reactors melted and burned through the steel floors of the containment vessels and into the thick concrete under pads. The melted fuel is far from under control. This means the temperature inside the reactor can’t be regulated by conventional means. Nobody at Fukushima actually knows what state this highly radioactive molten fuel is in or what temperature it is at because it’s obviously far too dangerous to go in and find out.

Also, tens of thousands of tons of water that was pumped into the reactors in the attempt to cool them remains inside and is highly radioactive. The authorities have no idea what to do with it. It’s leaking into the environment with some of it reaching the Pacific Ocean. Last week, Fukushima’s operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) had to abandon plans to dump it in the ocean after protests by local fishermen. Right now, there’s nowhere for it to go, other than to leak into the sea and groundwater.

So, we don’t have a “cold shutdown” at Fukushima.

If we dig a bit deeper, we find that the disaster at Fukushima is an ongoing nightmare that shows no sign of ending soon.

The government chose the inadequate, 20-kilometre exclusion zone around the plant because it didn’t want to evacuate highly populated areas like Fukushima City, about 60 kilometres from the disaster site. A much larger zone should have been declared to ensure public safety. Nine months after the disaster people are still waiting for proper support and compensation from the TEPCO and the government. Greenpeace’s latest analysis continued to find radioactive hotspots in the city, even at places that were supposed to have been decontaminated. Of the thousands of contaminated houses in Fukushima City, only a few have been decontaminated.

On the eve of the “cold shutdown” announcement last week, undercover reporter Tomohiko Suzuki told a chilling story of conditions for workers at the Fukushima plant. It reads like a dispatch from Hell. Suzuki says workers are manipulating the readings of their radiation detectors or not using detectors so they can spend longer on the site. The radiation screening of workers isn’t being carried out properly and work is apparently “purely cosmetic” and “shoddy.” Corners are being cut and there’s no money to try new solutions that might help solve the crisis. “Absolutely no progress is being made,” he says. To make matters worse, Suzuki claims that that organized crime – Japan’s Yakuza – is playing a big part in recruiting workers.

News of a “cold shutdown” sounds like a PR smokescreen.

Where is the leadership from TEPCO and the Japanese government? They certainly are working hard on their public relations and spin. If only they were putting as much energy into bringing the Fukushima reactors under control and looking after the wellbeing of the Japanese people.

The priority for the Japanese Government should also be to ensure that all remaining nuclear reactors across the country are shutdown permanently while providing resources for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. It’s the least they can do.

APP pulps trees from its own tiger sanctuary. How dumb is that?

Ian Duff, Greenpeace UK — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:58:00 +0100

This was APP's Senepis Tiger Sanctuary, until one of APP's suppliers cut down the trees. Image: Eyes on the Forest/WW Indonesia

Asia Pulp and Paper – the company doing so much to jeopardise the future of Indonesia's rainforests – has done some pretty stupid things in the past. But pulping the trees in its own tiger sanctuary is astonishingly dumb.

And yet that's exactly what APP has done. A case study in a new investigative report documents how APP’s Senepis Tiger Sanctuary is subject to aggressive deforestation by one of the company’s wood suppliers. This is the very same heavily-promoted sanctuary that APP shows to clients and media as an example of its conservation efforts in Indonesia.

The report, The Truth Behind APP’s Greenwash, which has been released by Indonesia-based NGO coalition Eyes of the Forest, presents detailed evidence that cuts through the heart of APP’s aggressive, multi-million dollar greenwashing machine. How on earth will APP's PR firm Cohn and Wolfe spin this one?

APP has already responded to this latest scandal by admitting that the shocking images taken by field researchers were from its supplier’s concession. Yet in its promotional materials APP claims that it only sources fibre from "degraded" areas or "wasteland" and that any rainforest fibre found in its products is simply "wood residues". We've always questioned what the term ‘wood residues’ actually means and the latest images (such as the one above) from inside a supplier concession demonstrates the meaning quite clearly - natural forests in and around APP's own tiger sanctuary!

It's greenwashing scams like this that led to the Dutch Advertising Codes Commission's recent ruling that APP’s print and television advertisements were misleading to the public. This news comes off the back of other recent APP tiger scandals. In July, a tiger was found dead in a trap on an APP plantation, and in other areas APP has been forced to relocate tigers after clearing their forest habitat.

The report also highlights how APP suppliers are, contrary to Indonesian laws and regulations, clearing and draining deep peat, a major source of global greenhouse gas emissions. The draining, degradation, and burning of Indonesia’s peatlands is one of the main reasons why Indonesia is ranked third biggest climate polluter in the world.

On top of this new evidence, our recent Tiger Tour through Sumatra documented the ongoing destruction of tiger habitat and peatland areas, and a dossier has been presented to the Indonesian president to demonstrate how companies like APP are undermining his efforts to curb deforestation.

It’s estimated that APP - which is part of the Sinar Mas Group - has pulped more than two million hectares of Indonesia’s tropical forests since it started paper production there in 1984. The devastation caused by APP has led to intense global criticism with many major global brands such as Mattel, Lego, Adidas, Tesco and dozens more now refusing to do business with the company.

While many global buyers, including some of the biggest paper users in the world, have stopped buying from APP, in the UK APP is hiding behind other company names and using independent paper merchants to hide its toxic brand in order to get its paper onto the shelves.

And this latest expose of APP’s destructive operations comes just days after the latest round of UN climate change talks wound up in Durban. While the Indonesian president has been applauded for his ambitious commitments to reducing Indonesian greenhouse gas emissions, the truth is the president’s targets are being undermined daily as APP continues to feed its pulp mills with trees from rainforests, peatlands and habitat which is of critical importance for the survival of Sumatran tigers.

New Year's Resolution: End Whaling

John Hocevar, Oceans Campaign Director — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:03:00 +0100

For decades, Greenpeace has led the fight to protect whales and the oceans in which they live. We led successful efforts to ban "wall of death" high seas drift nets, which killed huge numbers of marine mammals each year. We successfully campaigned for bans on dumping sewage sludge and toxic and nuclear waste, which has kept millions of tons of waste out of our oceans each year.

And we helped secure the moratorium on commercial whaling, which - despite continued whaling by Japan, Norway, and Iceland, has been instrumental in bringing several whale species back from the brink of extinction. Today, whaling is no longer the biggest threat to whale populations - but it is certainly the most inexcusable, wasteful, and unacceptable.

That's why we will not rest until Japan, Norway and Iceland end commercial whaling once and for all.

We made some real progress in 2011, which gives us new hope for the future. Responding to huge numbers of requests from people like you, the US Government stepped up pressure on Iceland. Next year, we'll be working with coalition partners to complement the Obama administrations efforts by hitting the Icelandic whalers where it hurts - in their bank accounts. We are confident that few US businesses will be willing to buy seafood from Icelandic companies that profit from whaling, and will keep you posted on what you can do to help spread the word.

Two of our activists faced felony charges and long prison sentences for their role in exposing the black-market whale meat trade in Japan, creating a public discussion in the Japanese media about the future of whaling. We have worked with members of Japan's parliament to raise questions about government subsidies for the uneconomical and unpopular whaling operation. We expanded on this work in 2011, building a coalition of strong Japanese voices that will be increasingly difficult for the Japanese government to ignore.

Perhaps the best news for whale conservation in the last decade came out of the International Whaling Commission. After years of buying enough votes to keep the international community from closing the loophole on "research" whaling, the IWC passed a new reform package which will make it much more difficult for Japan to continue to manipulate votes. We will be working to take advantage of this change over the next couple years.

Unfortunately, commercial whaling isn't quite gone yet. As I write, Japan's fleet is headed for the Southern Ocean to slaughter minke and fin whales, and our work is not done. We are making progress, though, and the whalers are on the ropes. The fleet this year will be smaller, and the whaling season will be shorter. Opposition in Japan - and from the US government - is getting louder. The IWC is not quite as friendly to the last of the commercial whaling operations as it was last year. And Icelandic whalers have a lot to be nervous about right now as well.

Together, we can make my New Year's wish - finally, an end to commercial whaling - come true at last.

Anderson Cooper's 60 Minutes Segment on Marine Reserves Has Our Heads Swimming

Jay Ferrari — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:05:00 +0100

If you saw 60 Minutes last night, you were likely amazed yet alarmed by Anderson Cooper's piece on marine reserves. You can find it here, in case you missed it.

The footage from his dive of a massive coral reef off the Cuban coast was stunning. In stark contrast was Cooper's description of the environmental assault on our planet's reefs -- a perfect storm of unsustainable fishing, global warming, pollution and other factors. As explained in the story:

"Scientists say coral is succumbing to a complex combination of environmental factors including pollution, agricultural run-off, coastal development, over-fishing, and rising ocean temperatures, which researchers believe is causing a phenomenon called 'bleaching,' that causes the coral to turn white and sometimes die."

But you can help turn the tide.

We're working to designate 40% of the world's oceans as marine reserves -- protecting the reefs and the incomprehensibly rich variety of aquatic life they sustain.

Sign the Hands Off! ocean-protection petition today!

Brazil Update: President Dilma gives forest criminals an early Christmas present.

Daniel Brindis — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:16:00 +0100

In themidst of a political street fight over the Brazilian Forest Code, the UN climate talks in Durban and the holiday season, President Dilma approved a signed a law that will weaken environmental enforcement, making it much easier for loggers and cattle ranchers to break the law and destroy more Amazon rainforest in the coming years.

Environmental protection in the frontier areas of the Amazon in recent years have depended heavily on the national Brazilian environmental enforcement agency, IBAMA. In many frontier areas of the Amazon, state and local governments have been "reluctant" or ill-equipped to crack down on illegal logging, especially when it may have been done at the behest of local elites, wood barons or agribusiness. Many times in recent history these interests have used violence and intimidation to silence critics or even local governments with the best intentions. One can credit this past decade's decreasing rate of deforestation in Brazil to better enforcement by the Brazilian federal government who has been able to send IBAMA agents into the field to bring forest criminals to justice.

The state governments are typically responsible for issuing permits logging permits and fining those cutting the forest illegally. Before this new law, the federal government, through IBAMA, was also able to enforce the law. The new law, however, only allows the agency responsible for the permit to penalize violators of the law. IBAMA, being a federal agency, will no longer be as able to step in to support forest protection. This change basically paralyses one of the most effective means to stop illegal forest destruction.

IBAMA Agents' presence in the advancing Amazon frontier is more necessary than ever considering that the new forest code, if approved, will open up a new deforestation rush in the Amazon.

Now it will be up to other parts of the federal government or the states to enforce the law and many are ill-prepared and not ready for such a challenge. As Greenpeace Amazon Campaign Director Paulo Adario explained his concerns, "enforcing the law will be up local powers, who are much more easily influenced by perpetrators of the law than the Brazilian federal government."

According to the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, the Brazilian Environmental Ministry had even urged Dilma not to approve the new law. This new law that weakens IBAMA gives us no assurances whether Dilma will be able stand up to Agribusiness interests in Brazil and follow the wishes of the vast majority of Brazilians who want to protect the Amazon. It isn't too late to voice yourconcern to Dilma about how her decisions are crucial to the fate of the Amazon.

Devastating scenes of climate change in rural China

admin — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:12:00 +0100

The impacts of climate change are already being felt. Average global temperatures have risen every decade since the 1970s. 2010 tied 2005 as the hottest year on record. Overall, the 10 hottest years on record have all occurred in the last 13 years. Extreme weather events – droughts, floods and major typhoons – are becoming more common and destroying farmlands. China's already stressed water resources are drying out even further. Glaciers, permafrost and sea ice are disappearing, while sea levels are rising and coral reefs dying. The impacts of climate change are already responsible for killing an estimated 315,000 people every year, and damaging ecosystems.

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The issue of climate change is more pertinent than ever, and yet the recent Durban climate change talks hardly gave us the decisive action required. In fact what was "achieved" was a ten-year delay in global greenhouse pollution reductions. This isn't good enough. Though it's a latecomer to industrialization, China's rapid economic development has made it the world's number one emitter of greenhouse gases. The booming economy has lifted millions out of poverty, but at huge environmental cost.

While the world waits climate change already impacting China's rural poor

Monica Tan — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:35:00 +0100

Melanie Hart in writing for the Center for American Progress said in her piece covering China's participation in Durban, "China's Durban messaging may reflect a change in tone while the substance is unclear." From our section on the problems of climate change:

China's rapid economic development has made it the world's number one emitter of greenhouse gases. The booming economy has lifted millions out of poverty, but at huge environmental cost.

China's astronomic growth and skyrocketing greenhouse gas emissions both have the same cause: black, sooty coal. More than 70% of China's energy is supplied by coal, which in turn contributes 80% of the country's carbon dioxide emissions. Coal provides electricity to power factories, cities, businesses and homes. It poisons our atmosphere, our rivers and mountains and our lungs.

Unless China end its reliance on coal, it will be nearly impossible for the world to avoid runaway climate change.

Extreme weather events – droughts, floods and major typhoons – are becoming more common and destroying farmlands. China's already stressed water resources are drying out even further. Glaciers, permafrost and sea ice are disappearing, while sea levels are rising and coral reefs dying. The impacts of climate change are already responsible for killing an estimated 315,000 people every year, and damaging ecosystems.

Slideshow: Devastating scenes of climate change in rural China

(Top image) Maidi Village, Jinzhong Town, Huize County, Longyi Tian, 10-year old, is off from school on Qingming Festival. He and his father were hired to irrigate Puqing Tang's field, the payment is 20 yuan per day. After work, he had to go to a waterhole not far away from his home to collect water, since the water here is not clean and only can be used for cattle's drinking and feet washing. Since fall 2009, severe drought hit southern China, causing drinking water shortage in the area. In March and April 2010, Greenpeace donated and helped to set up water pumps powered by solar energy for some villagers in YunNan Province. The drought is another chilling reminder of what climate change has in store for the whole globe unless we revolutionise the way we make and use energy.

38 km from Xiadawu township , Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Glacier collapse on the western side of the Anemaqing mountain. Glacial lake (Glof) formed as result of glacier collapse and melt water. In April 2004, a huge snow avalanche took place about 38 km from Xiadawu township on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. A combination of rising temperatures brought on by climate change and the geological challenge of steep slope gravity has resulted in the glacial tongue of Anemaqing collapsing with such force that it brought down heavy snow and dark moraine making up a large part of the mountain body.

Herder Tencho and her younger sister Tsenang Tseten in Maduo County. The entire region around the Yangtze river source and its community are under heavy threat from global warming, as temperatures rise and the permafrost melts. The glacial lakes feeding into this river have been subject to outburst floods (GLOF) affecting the immediate landscape and covering it in black glacial deposits and destroying grassland so it can no longer be farmed on. As lakes burst, melt and recede, local people lose their main water source. Infrastructure has been impacted by warming permafrost, cracks are appearing in houses and some are starting to sink and become unstable. A number of affected people have had to resort to temporary accommodation supplied by social welfare as they lack funds to repair the buildings.

The Pannan Power Plant in Pan county, Liupanshui, Guizhou province, sits in a small valley. Its coal ash disposal site is located in Zhaluji village. Zhaluji’s fields on the valley floor have already been buried by coal ash, but the villagers still plant crops on the mountain slopes. Several seepage wells have been built for drainage purposes, discharging ash slurry directly into the Xiangshui River. Phase 1 of the coal ash dam covers more than 133 hectares, but Zhaluji village resident Zhou Yixian told Greenpeace that the power plant has already begun building Phase 2 and 3 "right in the valley behind our home, where on the mountain we have a primary school."

21st Century Activism: Why big business doesn’t always have to be the bad guy

Philip Radford — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:06:00 +0100

Today is a great day for the future of the IT sector.

Over the past few years, we’ve campaigned hard against Facebook to get them to commit to clean energy – specifically, we wanted them to change their siting policy—the decisions that they make about how to power their massive football-stadium-sized data centers.

When you go onto Facebook or Twitter or iTunes, your stuff –photos and music, status updates and party invitations— has to be stored somewhere. It’s not something we all spend a lot of time thinking about, but that’s how we use computers, and how we’re going to use them in the future. It’s called “the cloud". It’s growing fast—right now if the cloud were a country, it would be the fifth largest country in the world in terms of global warming emissions.

All that information is stored in massive data centers, which look like huge warehouses straight out of the Matrix. And more often than not, those data centers are powered by coal.

Like anyone else, I love Facebook. It’s changed the way we can talk to our supporters on the web—I can log in and see how people are engaging with our campaigns, what excites them and what motivates them, and what changes they want to see in the world.

We’ve won historic victories by relying on the power of Facebook—victories against major brands that happened virtually overnight. On our Facebook campaign, we set the Guinness Record for number of Facebook comments on a page in 24 hours. When I, or any of our activists, use Facebook, we want to know that we’re not contributing to the very problems that we’re fighting.

What we’re asking of corporations like Facebook is actually pretty incredible—we want them to be ambitious. We don’t just want them to “do no evil,” (as Google says) –we want them to do good. In fact, with the failure of the recent negotiations in Durban and America’s inability to pass climate legislation, we’re asking companies like Facebook to look far into the future, think about what’s good for their business and what’s good for the planet.

We’re asking them to be champions, and they’re stepping up and doing it.

Facebook has raised the bar for everyone, and we’re now looking for companies like Apple, Twitter and Microsoft to make their next move. What’s even more incredible is now that Facebook is demanding clean energy, utilities, like Duke Energy, are going to have to supply it.
This is the future of campaigning – big business isn’t going anywhere, so we want them on our side. We think corporations can be the good guys, if people demand it. We’ve asked them to step up and they’ve done it.

Since the beginning of our seafood supermarket campaign, along with other organizations, we’ve gotten 15 major supermarket chains around the country to improve their sustainable seafood policies. Just this year we’ve gotten two of the largest toy companies, Hasbro and Mattel, to stop sourcing their paper from Asia Pulp and Paper, a major contributor to Indonesian deforestation. And just this week, GE and Ben & Jerry’s were successful in pressuring the Environmental Protection Agency to make green refrigerants legal in the United States, a step that will make a huge difference for the climate.

There’s so much more to come in 2012—we’re working to get the major tuna brands to use better fishing methods. We’ve got even more planned for the IT sector because we want to be able to use our gadgets, tweet and live our 21st century lives knowing that the cloud is cleaner.

And, as we say at Greenpeace all the time—no permanent allies, no permanent enemies. We’re committed to standing up for the truth and pushing corporations to be their absolute best—not just dollar-driven profiteers, but true members of our global community. Sometimes that means flying an airship over their headquarters (yup, we did that with Facebook too!) and sometimes it means standing together to ask for better solutions together. So here’s to 21st century campaigning and unlikely allies. And thank you Facebook for helping us make history!

Read the agreement between Greenpeace and Facebook here.

Victory! Facebook Friends Renewable Energy

Greenpeace International — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:45:00 +0100

After 20 months of mobilizing, agitating and negotiating to green Facebook, the Internet giant has today announced its goal to run on clean, renewable energy. More than 700,000 people from all over the world joined to make this possible! Facebook's message to energy producers is clear: invest now in renewable energy, and move away from coal power.

In addition, Greenpeace climate campaigners and Facebook's head of sustainability will collaborate in the promotion renewable energy and encourage major utilities to develop renewable energy sources. (See the agreement here.)

Facebook has also committed to develop programmes with Greenpeace so that Facebook users can save energy and engage their communities in clean energy decisions. The possibilities for helping to empower and mobilize people around the world to launch an energy revolution are staggering!

You can see the campaign timeline here.

From today, Facebook has a siting policy that states a preference for access to clean, renewable energy supply for its future data centers – the places where its computers live. Coal power is still a feature of Facebook for now, but as they say in the IT sector -- it's been deprecated.

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who helped us get here. Now please announce it to the world! Go on, boast about how you helped our Facebook campaign to success - on Facebook -- you deserve it! The good people at Facebook also deserve our thanks for rising to the challenge and setting the bar for Internet companies with its data centre siting policy.

You can see Facebook's announcement of our collaboration on their Green Page. And don't forget to let them know if you 'like' it!

Mobilizing to green Facebook

The campaign to green Facebook took off in February 2010, just after the company announced its plan to build a data centre that would run on electricity made primarily by burning coal.

Hundreds of thousands of people all over the world got involved. Celebrities and students joined Greenpeace volunteers and activists from Argentina to Zimbabwe, and in every city where Facebook has offices. We demonstrated with photos, humor, petitions, videos, music, and dance -- and an airship flying over Facebook's HQ in Palo Alto, California. Campaign supporters even set a Guinness world record (for the most Facebook comments in 24 hours).

What color is your cloud?

The energy used to power data centres, such as those which run the websites and online services of Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Twitter and other major IT companies is enormous, totalling more than 2 percent of US electricity demand, and is projected to grow 12 percent or more each year.

Videos, pictures and other data are stored in this high tech “cloud” to deliver data to homes and offices in real time. If the cloud was a country, it would be the 5th largest in terms of electricity use, worldwide.

This cloud is often powered from locations that are heavily dependent on electricity from a variety of sources, including coal, which is the dirtiest source of energy and largest single source of global warming pollution in the world.

If all the Internet giants would unfriend coal, it would send a message to utilities and investors that couldn't be ignored. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shown today what other IT leaders should be doing.

Energy efficiency is important, but for an energy revolution to save the planet we also need to upgrade to green energy. Who will be next?

Take action

Click here to SHARE the above video on Facebook. The more views the video gets, the more pressure will be put on other members of the tech industry to adopt strong renewable energy commitments.

Threat to Amazon delayed, as new Forest Code vote is postponed to 2012

admin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:14:00 +0100

The next stage of voting on Brazil’s new Forest Code – which could have devastating impacts on the Amazon - has been once again postponed before going to President Dilma, who can either approve or veto it. The new code, which has been labelled a ‘forest protection measure’, has been so badly altered that it has become nothing more than an invitation for bulldozers and chainsaws to come to the forests.

November 29, 2011 - Greenpeace Netherlands activists march with a four meter high replica of the Rio de Janeiro Christo Redendor statue from the biggest square in The Hague - the 'Malieveld'- to the Brazilian embassy.

The new forest proposal was passed by the Senate last week, and was set to be voted on this week by the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Brazil’s National Congress. However, at the Chamber meeting, the vote that was meant to happen was postponed until March 2012. While this means more time for the agribusiness sector to make even more damaging changes to the Forest Code - it also means more time to make sure President Dilma hears the worldwide demand to protect the Amazon.

In the past week alone 50,000 of you sent emails directly to President Dilma urging her to use her veto to protect the Amazon. This same demand was made by people all over the world and a wide spectrum of civil society groups, including WWF, Avaaz.org, and Floresta Faz a Diferença, a Brazilian coalition.

The discussions on changes to Brazil’s Forest Code have lasted more than a decade in total, including a two-year long messy legislative process in the National Congress. There have been multiple delays along the way and a last minute effort from scientists, environmentalists, religious leaders and social movements to restore sanity to the Forest Code with amendments designed to make the Code an effective measure for forest protection. Despite this, the Senate, under intense pressure from the agribusiness sector, voted to pass the new Forest Code last week and open the Amazon up for widespread destruction. The final result threatens to turn back the clock on several years of struggle against deforestation and grant amnesty to past crimes of illegal deforestation.

Inside Brazil more than 1.5 million people have already called for action against the new Forest Code, but the fight to save the Amazon is not over. President Dilma Rousseff is still the only real chance to stop this regressive Forest Code in its tracks, before it is delivered on a silver platter to the agribusiness sector. The delay means there is more time to stop this destructive new code. We will continue to stand up for the Amazon against this threat, but we will still need your support.