Radford's Blog

Following SEC complaint, Greenpeace asks TransCanada for honest Keystone XL jobs explanation

Phil Radford — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:30:00 +0100

TransCanada has some explaining to do.

Greenpeace just sent a letter to TransCanada's CEO, Russ Girling, as well as the company's board of directors asking for complete documentation of how it came to its inflated conclusions on Keystone XL pipeline jobs here in the U.S. That letter is posted in full below (click here to see it).

We are following up on a letter Greenpeace sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission last week noting that TransCanada's job claims per mile of U.S. pipeline are 67 times higher than the estimates they provided to the Canadian government for its portion of Keystone XL. SEC notified us that our complaint was sent to their enforcement division.

TransCanada has already bit back at our complaint, insinuating that Greenpeace doesn't know anything about pipelines. Perhaps TransCanada can explain why its existing Keystone pipeline leaked 14 times in less than 18 months when it anticipated a rate of 1.4 leaks per decade -- check out this infographic for descriptions of the first twelve leaks. Nebraska's ecologically sensitive Sandhills region and the Ogallala aquifer cannot be subject to TransCanada's insufficient pipeline safety standards, especially when that pipeline carries corrosive tar sands for almost 2,000 miles. And with well over 1,000 miles of pipeline proposed in our country, it's alarming that as little as 50 people may be employed to monitor and maintain it, as Cornell's Global Labor Institute suggests. Read the independent Cornell report yourself.

TransCanada has also boosted its employment statistics by equating one job to one full year of employment for one person. This is part of how TransCanada and its allies inflated State Department estimates of less than 7,000 jobs, while the Cornell assessment concludes that Keystone XL could kill more jobs than it would create. Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others are paying big for advertising campaigns that re-hash TransCanada's flawed 20,000 jobs claim, and from there claim hundreds of thousands of jobs from indirect employment. By indirect employment I mean services the oil industry isn't actually providing, which would would dry up after pipeline construction ends.

I'm not saying temporary jobs don't count--we need all the employment we can get, which is why it's a slap in the face to the American people for TransCanada to grossly exaggerate its employment promises as if it's on the campaign trail and building Keystone XL is the inauguration. Tell it like it is, TransCanada, citizens seeking employment don't need to be teased after the 2008 economic recession.

Unfortunately, the media is buying TransCanada's lies despite some reporting from the Washington Post and others that have already called the jobs numbers into serious question. According to Media Matters, 0% of broadcasters covering Keystone XL were critical of the jobs claims. Things weren't much better in coverage on cable news (11%) or print news (5%) either. Excluding USA Today and the Los Angeles Times, all major media outlets quoted more Keystone XL pipeline supporters than opponents. That's pretty bogus--Jack Gerard must have been popping the champagne over at the American Petroleum Institute headquarters as he put millions of dirty dollars to work through advertising campaigns like "Vote 4 Energy."

It's ridiculous although unsurprising that TransCanada and Big Oil act as if pipeline jobs are the only ones that exist. Why mention that any dollar invested in a polluting, outdated, climate-destroying industry is better invested in creating jobs in the clean energy sector? Big Oil would never be that forthcoming. They'd rather keep Americans fenced within the Kingdom of Crude, where not only are they the most profitable industry on earth, but taxpayers still pay handouts for their multi-billion dollar operations.

Greenpeace will continue demanding accountability from TransCanada and its Big Oil allies here in Washington, DC, and we'll let you know when we start getting some answers.

Letter to TransCanada CEO Russ Girling:

Dear Mr. Girling:

I read with considerable interest your company’s response to our request to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it investigate the possible illegal use of misleading and deceptive job claims to win approval for the Keystone XL pipeline, which would boost your company’s bottom line considerably:

“These groups have never built or operated a pipeline,” said company spokesman, Terry Cunha, to Politico.

Mr. Cunha is correct; Greenpeace has never built a pipeline funneling corrosive tar sands crude oil across the heartland of the United States, endangering America’s groundwater, and then selling the oil overseas. What we do have experience in, however, is examining facts. Your claims just don’t add up. How will your pipeline create 67 times more jobs in the U.S. than your company told Canadian officials it would in Canada?

Greenpeace calls for an end to destructive tar sands mining, which you must be aware is fueling global climate disruption and poisoning indigenous people in northern Alberta. Our opposition extends to projects like Keystone XL that aim to solidify continued decades of carbon pollution. I must admit that we probably won’t ever try to build something that will spill oil, threaten aquifers and create a several thousand mile-long terrorist target.

However, you clearly do have such expertise, both in building pipelines and watching them spill, as demonstrated by 12 reported leaks in the first year of your existing Keystone pipeline’s operation. That’s why I’m inviting you to (possibly) head off SEC action and significant public embarrassment by explaining how TransCanada created such contradictory job creation claims.

I invite you to provide a detailed, plain-language explanation of this remarkable difference in job creation rates. Several groups of people await this important explanation, including investors, dozens of politicians and pundits who have recycled your company’s fictitious job creation numbers, and SEC enforcement officials eyeing SEC Rule 10b(5) – Employment of Manipulative and Deceptive Practices.

Greenpeace also would appreciate it if you could direct your contractor, Ray Perryman, to give a detailed accounting of the assumptions and methodology of the calculations he performed for your company on the pipeline’s supposed benefits.

We’ll gladly post any detailed, credible explanation of this wide discrepancy in job creation numbers on our website.

Regards,

Phil Radford
Executive Director
Greenpeace

Cc: TransCanada Corporation Board of Directors
Sent by email, fax and direct mail.

Keystone XL and the fights to come

Phil Radford — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:14:00 +0100

Today, thanks to the tens of thousands of activists around the country who have protested the Keystone XL pipeline, the Obama administration delivered a major blow to the oil industry's efforts to exploit destructive tar sands oil. Facing pressure from environmentalists, landowners, Republicans, Democrats and citizens from every other corner of society, the administration sent back the State Department's flawed environmental review flawed environmental review of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. President Obama recognized that granting a permit for the pipeline would affect the "health and safety of the American people as well as the environment" and directing his State Department to perform a new review that would seriously address the many environmental concerns the pipeline presents - including climate change. If the administration keeps this promise, there is no way this pipeline will be approved, since any project that contributes to further exploitation of tar sands oil would mean increased global warming pollution and an unacceptable threat to our climate.

This decision is a dramatic affirmation of what can be done when activists come together to protect our air, water, and climate. From the 1253 of us who were arrested at President Obama's doorstep in August, to all those that testified at State Department hearings, the more than 12,000 citizens who surrounded the White House last Sunday, and so many more all around the country who challenged President Obama to stand up for us, not the oil industry - congratulations. There's much more to be done of course - to make sure the Keystone XL pipeline isn't revived by industry lobbyists, to challenge the fossil fossil industry and its many other threats to our planet and our health, and to ensure that President Obama keeps his focus on our interests, and not the oil lobbyists'. Let's take stock of what has been accomplished, and rededicate ourselves to the fights to come.

Greenpeace calls for Congressional investigation of Koch's illegal practices

Phil Radford — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:38:00 +0200

This week, Bloomberg published a detailed expose: Koch Brothers Flout Law Getting Richer With Secret Iran Sales, revealing a startling array of allegations about Koch Industries bribing government officials around the world and doing business with Iran.

The Koch Brothers' contempt for the communities and workers impacted by their reckless and polluting corporation has been well documented.

But this new investigation reveals a blatant disregard for our laws, so today Greenpeace has called for a full Congressional investigation of Koch Industries and the illegal practices detailed in the Bloomberg report.

Here's the letter I sent today to key members of Congress:

Senator Lieberman and Congressman Issa:

In light of the recent Bloomberg Markets Magazine investigative report on Koch Industries’ secretive business dealings with Iran, corruption and illicit payments in obtaining contracts, falsifying documents on air pollution and other questionable business operations, we call on you to launch a full congressional investigation into the practices exposed in the report.

The allegations reported by Bloomberg about Koch’s business deals with Iran, run through a German subsidiary, are similar to the arrangements discovered between Halliburton and Iran, which were conducted through overseas subsidiaries, in a manner designed to skirt the letter of the law and thereby undermine U.S. foreign policy objectives.

Corporations like Koch Industries are granted the right to operate as a business under U.S. law. When corporations choose to routinely circumvent or break the law, our government has the duty to penalize that illegal activity with appropriate sanctions. When the corporation’s illegal activities demonstrate a broad pattern of deliberate continued violations despite repeated sanctions and penalties -- it becomes incumbent upon the government to take more aggressive action, such as revoking the corporate charter that allows them to continue to operate as a business.

We are calling for a full investigation into Koch Industries’ alleged activities, such that our representatives, government officials and the citizens of the United States have full knowledge of their illicit business practices and can decide on the appropriate course of action.

Sincerely,

Phillip Radford

Executive Director

Greenpeace USA

CC: Rep. Henry Waxman, Senator John Kerry, Senator Chuck Grassley, Senator Carl Levin, Senator Patrick Leahy

Greenpeace: Forty years on the environmental frontline

Phil Radford — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:42:00 +0200

“We call our ship the Greenpeace because that’s the best name we can think of to join the two great issues of our times: the survival of our environment and the peace of the world.

We do not consider ourselves to be radicals. We are conservatives, who insist upon conserving the environment for our children and future generations.”

This radio message was broadcast around the world on September 15, 1971, as the first Greenpeace crew unfurled their triangular green sail, emblazoned with the peace and ecology symbols, and set out from Vancouver.

The mission of the crew was to sail into the heart of a U.S. nuclear test zone and peacefully prevent the destruction of Amchitka, a pristine island ecosystem off the coast of Alaska. In their rusty little fishing boat, the 12 activists stood up to the greatest military force on the planet.

The group failed to stop the test, but what followed this action was a wave of public support that ultimately shut down the U.S. nuclear testing program, won Amchitka designation as a wildlife sanctuary, and gave birth to Greenpeace.

Today, on Greenpeace’s 40^th Anniversary, I find myself flipping through the Greenpeace history books and reflecting upon the great victories achieved with the support of millions of individuals around the globe, from the U.N. nuclear test ban, to the moratorium on commercial whaling, to the protection of Antarctica as a World Park, and much more.

This video of International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo and Greenpeace co-founder Rex Weyler (who also authored the most comprehensive history of our organization - “Greenpeace: How a Group of Ecologists, Journalists and Visionaries Changed the World”) gives us a glimpse back at Greenpeace’s early history, and where we’re headed from here.

From our humble beginning 40 years ago, Greenpeace has grown into one of the largest environmental organizations in the world. Today, Greenpeace operates in over 45 countries and commands a fleet of research and activist ships, which has sailed against environmental destruction on all of the seven seas. We employ world-renowned scientists, campaigners, communicators, policy experts, and grassroots strategists to lead our campaigns. Through it all, Greenpeace has remained independent, accepting no money from governments or corporations.

Today, more and more people understand that the environmental crises confronting us require action, urgent change, and solutions. This movement has grown as millions join in saving our oceans and forests from unchecked destruction, kicking our addiction to fossil fuels to protect our air, water, and climate, and leading the world toward a green and peaceful future. The challenges before us are immense – the victories needed in this next decade are going to take all of us and more to win.

Greenpeace to launch global digital innovation lab; hires Michael Silberman, online pioneer, to lead initiative

Phil Radford — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:11:00 +0200

Michael Silberman, the brain behind the "Meetup" grassroots organizing strategy used by Howard Dean’s presidential campaign and co-founder of digital consultancy EchoDitto, is joining Greenpeace to launch a new, global digital mobilization lab. The Lab will be a dynamic, forward-looking space that will work with Greenpeace and allies in 42 countries to envision, test, and roll out creative new means of communicating, organizing, and fundraising online.

Digital innovation – how we use mobile phones, tablets, email, and other technologies – will happen at the edges of organizations and networks. The Lab is designed to serve as a collaborative hub among networks – inside and outside of Greenpeace – to find, test, and push the envelope on the use of technology in campaigns. Greenpeace’s global reach into 42 markets, from China to India to Brazil to the U.S., will surface creative new ideas that would not be found in any one country.

The Lab is the latest move in an aggressive investment in digital strategy at Greenpeace, which aims to:

Empower and inspire activists and supporters to play more central roles in campaigns, both online and offline

Experiment with new tactics across the digital landscape, from online marketing to fundraising to mobile communications

Optimize the role of digital strategies in campaign design

Create a culture of testing, analysis, and listening as the foundation for future success

Collaborate with other winning campaigning organizations to share best practices and lessons learned

Build a learning environment for Greenpeace's global network of digital campaigners

Silberman brings more than eight years of experience designing participatory campaigns and strategies for leading organizations around the world to engage individuals in meaningful action. He is a frequent writer and speaker on the effective use of technology for converting online activity into real-world change. Silberman also chairs the Web of Change conference, the premier global gathering for leading thinkers and campaigners at the intersection of technology and social change.

Greenpeace recently hired Kevin Grandia, author of DeSmog Blog and a political communications expert, as the Director of Online Strategy. Ben Kroetz, who had spent the three years previous at Greenpeace building a national network of remote activists and integrating Greenpeace's Grassroots and Online programs, took on the role of Senior Online Strategist. Dionna Humphrey, who has worked in grassroots advocacy for more than a decade, focusing primarily on online fundraising and advocacy strategies, joined the team as the Senior Email Campaigner.

Greenpeace already has a successful track record leveraging digital strategies for its campaigns. The LA Times called Greenpeace’s recent campaign against Mattel's package sourcing “a social media battle over the rainforest” when over 180,000 people viewed an animated YouTube video of Ken breaking up with Barbie over her destructive ways.

Last year Greenpeace rallied hundreds of thousands of supporters over Facebook and Twitter to email Nestle about their destructive supply chain. The result was a shift away from deforestation by the world's largest food and drink company. Back in 2000 Coca-Cola agreed to remove harmful chemicals from its refrigeration equipment - also convincing Unilever and McDonald's to follow suit - after an online-focused campaign. Apple removed toxic substances from its products after the online public mobilized around the 'Green My Apple' campaign.

Germany Sets the Bar for a Green Energy Future

Phil Radford — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:42:00 +0200

Today is a historic day in Germany and for green energy worldwide. The German Parliament has made a precedent setting move - not only have they set a plan to phase out all nuclear by 2022, but the Parliament has committed to renewable energy like wind and solar as the replacement. The decision will help Germany with its objective to reduce carbon pollution 40% by 2020, which will include a significant shift away from coal fueled power plants.

Germany is sending a very important signal to the world: They are convinced and committed that renewable energies and efficiency technologies that will not only contribute to a more sustainable life on earth but also support a more sustainable economic future.

After some of the largest demonstrations on green energy in Germany's history, and the planet bearing witness to one of the worst nuclear disasters in history, the law on the nuclear phase out passed the German Parliament with an enormous majority of 513 votes in favor, 79 votes against and 8 abstentions, combined with related laws for the switch to renewables like:

• Acceleration of investments in new grids

• Revised energy efficiency promotion of on-shore wind energy

• Revised feed-in-tariffs for renewable

The nuclear phase out comprises the following steps:

• 8 nuclear reactors, under a March 2011 moratorium, will not be reactivated and will be phased out.

• These are eight of the oldest reactors with the highest security risks. The other 9 nuclear reactors will be phased out by 2022.

Germany, Switzerland and Italy are all abandoning nuclear in favor of clean and safe renewable energy that don't threaten our homes and communities with meltdowns and radioactive fallout. People from Vermont to California are coming together to demand the same change here at home, and it's Obama and Congress that have the power to answer their call by shutting down nuclear here at home and investing in renewables like wind and solar.

Companies like Mattel are still pushing Sumatran tigers to the brink

Phil Radford — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 22:12:00 +0200

Mattel's paper purchasing polices are weaker than Ken’s plastic handshake.

Poor Barbie. She’s survived fifty years of bad outfits, sudden beheadings at the hands of younger brothers and the wrath of feminists everywhere. Underneath that fixed smile is a steely determination that has pushed this character to the front of American popular culture and kept her there for generations. It’s one hell of a fairytale, but right now she’s caught in a scandal that threatens to shake the Dream House to its foundations.

On Tuesday Greenpeace released a dossier of new evidence showing how Mattel is wrapping the world’s most famous toy in rainforest destruction. Activists dressed as Ken and Barbie arrived in Los Angeles to send a clear message to Mattel’s employees: it’s time to cut deforestation out of your business for good.

Their response? “It is not the normal course of business to dictate where suppliers source materials.” However, they do agree to temporarily remove notorious rainforest destroyers Asia Pulp and Paper from their supply chain while an investigation takes place.

It’s progress, but they’re not there yet. Without a policy in place to protect rainforests the investigation has no teeth and the problem has not been solved. Our campaign continues and Ken still hasn’t taken Barbie back.

We know they can do this. After a toxic lead paint scare in 2007 Mattel introduced tough regulations on its suppliers, requiring them to prove the absence of hazardous chemicals in factories and processing facilities. Almost overnight the company got a grip on a complex and technically challenging problem. It turns out there’s nothing like some bad publicity to make the impossible, well, suddenly possible.

And that’s the point. For Mattel, the unseen destruction of rainforests was not a threat to their brand as long as it remained unseen. By shifting their operations overseas the toy industry is outsourcing the harmful effects of its business, hoping that the distance between the chainsaw and the playroom is great enough to stop anyone from noticing. While companies in other sectors (like Nestle, Kraft and Unilever) have taken real action to cut deforestation from their products, the toy industry is content to bury its head in the sandbox.

Of course, the problem is distant. Indonesia has never held the celebrity appeal of the Amazon, never had a Sting or a Bono to draw attention to its plight. Its story is relatively recent too – most of the destruction began during the Suharto regime’s twilight years in the 1990s. Today the country loses nearly three million acres of forest every year to a rapacious industry that amasses huge fortunes for a few powerful businessmen. Asia Pulp and Paper has rushed to defend Mattel. With friends like these, who needs enemies?

A quick look at the numbers also shows how Indonesia is on the front line in the battle against global warming. After the US and China, Indonesia is the world’s third largest source of manmade carbon pollution, largely due to deforestation. The draining, chopping and burning of forests and carbon-rich peatlands to create new plantations is sending massive amounts of pollution into the sky. This is speeding up global warming just as a series of extreme weather events takes hold, from Texas to Massachusetts. Forget the tigers for a second. Think about us.

And here, children, we come to the happy ending. Just like Mattel, companies like Asia Pulp and Paper can change pretty quickly. If their customers refuse to buy paper that comes from rainforest destruction then the companies will stop making it. Indonesia has vast areas of already cleared land that can be used for expanding pulpwood plantations. The paper industry can continue to grow while actually reducing its impact on our environment. All it needs is a clear signal from Mattel - and others like Hasbro and Disney - that they won’t allow deforestation to contaminate their products. Without that commitment, playtime is over.

Action to stop Arctic oil Drilling

Phil Radford — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 05:00:00 +0200

Early Saturday morning, eighteen Greenpeace activists climbed the Leiv Eiriksson, a controversial oil rig that is set to begin drilling in the pristine and freezing Arctic waters off the coast of Greenland.

The Greenpeace delegation demanded to see the oil spill response plan, which has been kept secret by Cairn Energy, despite repeated requests to make it public. The activists met with the drill manager and requested a copy of the plan, which you would think would be kept on board, and yet again were refused.

It seems oil spill response plans are often fantasies anyway - the Bush and Obama administrations were approving spill plans for the Gulf of Mexico that were so absurd they included species that don't even live anywhere near the Gulf like walruses and sea otters. Perhaps President Obama could remind other Arctic nations that it was only after a spill that the US realized just what a farce BP's spill response plan was. If we'd all seen BP's spill plans, would anyone in their right mind have allowed them to drill? I don't think so.

But it's pretty clear why the company's plan to respond to an oil spill isn't being revealed: it can't be done. It took approximately 6,000 vessels over three months to control BP's gushing Macondo well that spewed millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. There is no way that a similar response could be mobilized if a blowout or large spill were to occur in freezing Arctic waters. The freezing temperatures, extreme conditions, and remote location mean that an oil spill in the Arctic would be an irreversible disaster.

Earlier, two Greenpeace activists in a survival pod stopped the Leiv Eriksson drilling for four days. One of those activists, Hannah, is originally from New Orleans and witnessed first-hand the impacts of the Gulf oil disaster.

Cairn Energy isn't the only company eyeing the warming Arctic. Supermajors like Chevron, Exxon, and Shell hope to begin drilling in especially sensitive seas near Greenland and in Alaska's Arctic waters. These oil companies are treating global warming and melting Arctic sea ice as an invitation to drill for more oil, instead of a warning to move away from climate changing fossil fuels. We need to draw a line in the ice or the Arctic oil rush will be on.

Students Gear up to Protest Exxon Graduation Speech

Phil Radford — Fri, 13 May 2011 21:55:00 +0200

As college students around the country are wrapping up their semesters, graduating seniors at Worcester Polytechnical Institute (WPI) find themselves in the midst of an ethical controversy.

On Saturday, WPI's commencement speaker is none other than oil baron Rex Tillerson, CEO and chairman of ExxonMobil, although perhaps you're more familiar with his role as the national president of the Boy Scouts of America.

ExxonMobil has donated generously to WPI and has an executive on the school's Board of Trustees. WPI students protesting their administration's choice in commencement speaker question the social and environmental record of Rex Tillerson's company, with emphasis on its "scientifically negligent response to global warming." As ExxonMobil has spent over $25 million since 1998 on groups who deny the science or significance of global warming, I share their concerns.

In response the school's choice, the WPI Students for a Just and Stable Future negotiated with the administration to host a counterpoint speaker, Richard Heinberg of the Post Carbon Institute, who will be speaking at 3:00pm following the graduation ceremony. Heinberg is known for his analysis of peak production of fossil fuels, and the decline of easily-extractable, non-renewable energy sources.

Students have also organized a respectful protest of Tillerson's speech. Twenty-six students are refusing to attend the commencement address, opting instead for Heinberg's counterpoint speech. Other students who feel compelled to attend the speech will sport green ribbons to demonstrate solidarity with seniors who are abstaining from ending their schooling with an address from the mouth of Exxon.

ExxonMobil stands at the forefront of what is wrong with corporate America. The company is one of the top air polluters in the United States, with facilities that disproportionately affect low income communities and comminities of color. It is infamous for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska. It has a history of supporting brutal human rights violations in Indonesia. Through XTO Energy, ExxonMobil has already caused a major spill in the contaminating gas extraction practice known as hydrofracking.

While people and the earth bear the brunt of Exxon's negligence, the company leverages its immense wealth and influence to buy the right to continue conducting dirty business as usual. In addition to funneling millions to industry front groups that peddle misinformation about climate science and belittle the significance of global warming, ExxonMobil spends tens of millions annually on federal political lobbying, and millions more on contributions to federal politicians to buy favorable policies. And even though Exxon made tens of billions of dollars in annual profit--Tillerson himself has made over $40,000,000 in the last five years--American taxpayers still handed out billions of dollars in subsidies to Exxon and other oil companies each year.

As Worcester Polytechnical Institute offers Mr. Tillerson an honorary degree for concluding the education of the graduates of 2011, someone should probably also offer Tillerson an honorary degree in corporate carelessness. He has certainly earned it.

Check out the full story, as told by WPI students, on their Facebook page. They invite all to attend Richard Heinberg's speech tomorrow. Greenpeace applauds the students of Worcester Polytechnical Institute for standing up to ExxonMobil's polluting influence.

Salem Citizens Win Against Big Coal

Phil Radford — Fri, 13 May 2011 20:29:55 +0200

This week the people of Salem, Massachusetts got the news they've been waiting for years to hear: the 60 year old, dirty coal plant in their community that leads to 53 premature deaths per year is shutting down.

The Harvard School of Public Health reported that pollution from the Salem Harbor Coal Plant not only leads to 53 premature deaths per year, but also 570 emergency room visits a year, 14,000 asthma attacks a year, and nearly 100,000 daily incidents of upper respiratory irritation.

This victory for our health and the health of our children would not have been possible without the decades of hard work from communities across Massachusetts and beyond. Families that didn't need a Harvard report to know the plant was causing asthma attacks, heart disease, respiratory illnesses, and even premature death.

These people – mothers, fathers, grandparents, students – came together to do extraordinary things in Salem. For over two decades they worked together to hold rallies, gather petitions, and call their representatives. They enlisted the help of national and local groups to file lawsuits and testify against the plant.

Greenpeace was one of the groups that answered their call, along with the Salem Alliance for the Environment, Healthlink, Conservation Law Foundation, and the Sierra Club.

Greenpeace first visited Salem Harbor in 2001 when we sailed the Rainbow Warrior to the plant. There 15 of our volunteers crossed the line of the plant and posted crosses in the coal pile to honor and protest the deaths caused by this coal plant each year.

We continued to work side by side with local community members and this year stopped in Massachusetts with another one of our ships, the Arctic Sunrise. The ship was on its Coal-Free Future Ship Tour, stopping in cities along the East Coast to support local coal fights. The Arctic Sunrise requested a visit to Salem but was denied entry. The activists were not deterred; Salem and Marblehead residents headed to the State House in Boston to call on Governor Patrick to shut down the Salem Harbor Coal Plant.

The people of Massachusetts have paved the way for change across the country. They've shown us that if we're determined, if we're organized, and if we don't give up, we can stand up to Big Coal.

There is still work to be done before the wrecking ball takes its first swing at the Salem Harbor Coal Plant, and there's even more to do be done in hundreds of communities across the country.

Today people in Chicago, Philadelphia, Alexandria, and hundreds of other cities and towns across America are looking towards Salem. And today they know they too can win.

Let's make Salem Harbor the first of many plants put on the shut down list. Support the EPA’s stand against mercury pollution from dirty coal.

It’s time to protect the Earth’s final frontier

Phil Radford — Tue, 10 May 2011 20:43:00 +0200

There are clear signs that a new Arctic oil rush has begun.

Earlier this month Shell submitted plans to the US government for new drilling in the icy waters off Alaska’s north coast, and now a Scottish company has won permission to take a similar gamble near Greenland.

Tomorrow Hilary Clinton will fly to the picturesque town of Nuuk in Greenland to discuss how spill response equipment might work in one of the world’s most extreme and beautiful environments. I can save her the trip - it won’t.

Here are some facts. Over the next few years a handful of powerful oil companies will tow rigs beyond the Arctic Circle to drill for a few short months before the winter sea ice closes in. They’ll rely on untested equipment and wildly ambitious response plans in the event of a blowout or other major accident. When October comes, the sea ice will close in and leave the area completely isolated until the following summer.

Think about that for a moment. This means that if a blowout happened in the fall, oil could gush out underneath the ice from Halloween through Thanksgiving, all the way to Memorial Day or, depending on the oil spill and the ice, the fourth of July or longer. Wildlife like bowhead whales, polar bears, seals and walrus would have to fend for themselves as the world looks on helplessly and the oil companies make their excuses. We tried. We took precautions. It’s a big ocean. The Arctic will recover. Sound familiar?

Global warming is happening faster in the Arctic than on anywhere else on earth, and multinational oil companies are desperate to exploit the newly opened seas for huge profits. Safety is not their first priority, whatever the glossy brochures and reassuring words might say. The Deepwater Horizon disaster took 6,500 well equipped vessels over three months to cap. In the Arctic Ocean there aren’t even that many kayaks.

In the Arctic Ocean, the world’s last real frontier, Big Oil is taking bigger risks than ever before and dressing up their recklessness as necessity. They’re wrong. We can prevent extracting oil from the Arctic – and the Gulf of Mexico, and the Tar Sands in Canada –by taking it out of Detroit instead. We can ‘produce’ millions of barrels a year simply by not using it in the first place. Cleaner cars with better engines mean lower bills, less pollution and a healthier industry.

Our politicians have become hypnotized by the mantra of the fossil fuel lobby and are repeating it like drones - more, more, more. At some point this thirst, this reckless and desperate urge has to stop. One day, somewhere, we must draw a line in the sand and say: enough. This year just might be the moment, and Alaska’s Arctic Ocean might be the place.

Congress needs to hear your voice. Ask your members of Congress to put an end to government subsidies to the oil industry now.

TEPCO discovery of Fukushima sediment contamination in areas identified by Greenpeace

Phil Radford — Tue, 03 May 2011 19:57:00 +0200

TEPCO, the owners of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, just announced that they found contamination levels 100 to 1,000 times higher than normal in sediment from the Fukushima coast.

TEPCO did the sediment testing late last week—in areas Greenpeace identified for testing in our research plan—after we were denied permission to research inside Japan's 12 mile territorial waters.

The buzz around Japanese Twitter has been saying that Greenpeace is the reason why the authorities have actually done this research.

Following this announcement, Greenpeace Japan Executive Director Junichi Sato said:

"Our flag ship the Rainbow Warrior is already doing what it can to monitor marine contamination based on the very limited permission granted by the Government for areas outside the 12 mile territorial limit. We had previously identified the newly declared contaminated areas as areas at risk, and stand ready to assist within the 12 mile limit to provide independent monitoring and advice to the Japanese public."

"It has been noted by many that the authorities only surveyed the area as a result of our request and the pressure that accompanied it. This is no way to go about protecting public health. The prime ministers office should now immediately grant the Rainbow Warrior access to Japan's territorial waters to conduct its proposed radiation survey. It has nothing to lose and everything to gain from independent assessment and public information."

Here in the United States, even the Nuclear Regulatory Commission agrees that the public deserves to receive more information to keep them safe.

In testimony on Capitol Hill and other public statements, chairman of the regulatory commission, Mr. Jaczko has avoided criticizing his Japanese counterparts. But on Monday he said that “if we had a similar type of event in the U.S., we certainly would like to be providing a lot more information to the public.’’

It’s important that the Japanese government reverses its decision to block our research and allow us to provide clear, independent information to the people for whom help is needed.

What would a Chernobyl or Fukushima disaster at Indian Point mean?

Phil Radford — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:44:00 +0200

Twenty-five years ago the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, sending plumes of radiation around the planet and devastating the area surrounding the plant to this day.

The world learned firsthand then about the dangers of nuclear power. Today, the ongoing nuclear disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant is a tragic reminder of the threat that nuclear plants pose to nearby communities and the environment.

Yet many in Washington appear so captured by the nuclear industry that they are still seeking to run old nuclear reactors longer and harder than ever before, and still trying to subsidize the nuclear industry so it can build new reactors.

Will it take a Chernobyl or a Fukushima on US soil before our lawmakers understand that nuclear power is unnecessary, dangerous and expensive?

Despite the spin from the nuclear industry, the truth is that every nuclear reactor has the potential for a Chernobyl-scale release of radiation. Can we imagine what a catastrophe would look like at one of the 104 nuclear reactors in the United States?

1 in 3 Americans live within 50 miles of a nuclear plant, and many plants threaten major cities. More than 17 million people live within 50 miles of New York's Indian Point, an old nuclear plant in an active seismic zone north of New York City. What would happen in New York City if an earthquake, terrorist attack, or accident led to a catastrophic release of radiation?

We don't have to live with this threat. Instead of allowing these old reactors to run decades beyond their licensed life spans, we should be shutting them down. Instead of wasting taxpayer dollars to subsidize the construction of new nuclear reactors, we should be investing in safe solutions like renewable energy and energy efficiency.

These technologies are ready now - in the last four years, 30,000 megawatts of wind and solar power have been built in the United States, and 0 megawatts of new nuclear power. Our global energy scenario shows that we truly can meet our energy needs and phase out nuclear and coal power.

Let's take the lessons from Chernobyl and Fukushima to heart, and phase out nuclear power before the next catastrophe.

Protecting our oceans, one supermarket at a time

Phil Radford — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:21:00 +0200

Last month, a group of Greenpeace volunteers in Denver trekked to over 30 Colorado supermarkets to investigate the sustainability of the seafood being sold inside. Armed with an “endangered fish check-list,” what they found--a thousand miles away from the nearest ocean--was shocking. In the freezers, wet cases, and can aisles they discovered nearly every species on their list, including Chilean sea bass, Atlantic cod, swordfish, orange roughy, hoki, red snapper, shark, and other environmentally unsound seafood options.

Today, these volunteers, along with supermarket chains, industry, scientists, and consumers, are working to change the state of our planet through our seafood choices. Greenpeace’s Carting Away the Oceans project has been working with all these players to rank America’s major supermarket chains on their seafood sustainability practices.

Since the first report, supermarkets have made big strides to change their policies. Over the last few years, major seafood retailers such as Costco, Price Chopper, and Trader Joe’s have eliminated many unsustainable species from their inventories. A small group of industry leaders has emerged as well, and today, we’re happy to announce that Safeway has taken over the top spot on our list. With this recent development, Safeway is joining the ranks of Wegmans, Whole Foods, and Target in proving that sustainable seafood operations are both possible and necessary in all sectors of the seafood retail industry – conventional, specialty, and big-box.

Seafood sustainability plays an important role in Greenpeace’s overarching work on ocean conservation. Our oceans are in crisis, and we need everyone on board to make the massive change needed to bring them back from the brink. Three quarters of global fish stocks are suffering from overfishing, and 90% of top marine predators are already gone. Destructive fishing practices such as pirate fishing destroy critical ocean habitats and harm global fish stocks. As the ocean becomes more vulnerable, it will succumb more quickly to the harmful effects of global warming.

Despite the major strides made to protect our oceans, no large grocer has yet achieved a “green” ranking in Greenpeace’s Seafood Sustainability ranking. We’re thankful for all of this progress, but the overwhelming majority of retailers still have a long way to go. All seafood retailers need to acknowledge their responsibility towards the oceans—both for how they have damaged them and what they must do to heal them. Until that happens, we will continue to call on them to enact strong, effective, sustainable seafood policies that will reduce pressure on our flagging fish stocks and help heal our ailing oceans.

Stand with the people of Japan - join us March 28th

Phil Radford — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 20:05:00 +0100

The people of Japan are going through a terrible crisis. But they are not going it alone. There’s been an outpouring of support from people around the world and the situation has truly brought out the best in humankind.

Here in the United States, we are organizing candlelight vigils on March 28th to demonstrate solidarity with the people of Japan and to imagine a world free of nuclear disasters. As all types of other support continues to flow between our two countries, we wanted to take a minute and simply let the Japanese people know that our thoughts and best wishes are with them during this time.

But we can’t do this without your support.

Can you organize a candlelight vigil for Japan in your community on March 28th? Sign up right now by clicking the link below:

Yes, I will host a vigil.

Together we have won amazing victories for the planet. Now we want to use that same strength to show the people of Japan that we are with them every step of the way. So we’re asking you to join with other Greenpeace supporters around the country and host a vigil in your community on March 28th.

Please, take a minute and signup to host a vigil today and show the people of Japan that you and your community stand in solidarity with them.

Homeland Security Chairman Peter King ignores poison gas disaster threat to New York City

Phil Radford — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:13:00 +0100

The Kuehne chemical plant stores deadly chlorine gas that threatens 12 million people in the New York City area

Congressman Peter King (R-NY), the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, faced protests from hundreds of New Yorkers and interfaith leaders this weekend over his plans to single out Muslim communities in upcoming Congressional hearings. While Rep. King seeks to look tough on terrorism by scapegoating people for their religious beliefs, last week he showed his willingness to leave New Yorkers and millions of other Americans vulnerable to a catastrophic terrorist attack on dangerous chemical plants.

Tell Peter King to stop playing politics with homeland security and focus on serious threats to Americans like a poison gas disaster.

Instead of ensuring that the highest risk chemical plants convert to safer technologies, King joined Representatives Dan Lungren (R-CA) and Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) in supporting weak chemical plant security standards. Championed by chemical industry lobbyists, these rules leave 110 million Americans threatened by these pre-positioned weapons of mass destruction. In a press release, Congressman King explained why he supports the weak rules, but not the disaster prevention legislation that the chemical industry opposes: “Congress must ensure that DHS’s current authority is extended in a manner that protects our homeland without additional burdensome and costly requirements or job-crushing mandates."

In case you need help translating those chemical industry talking points, "burdensome and costly requirements or job-crushing mandates" is code for the common sense requirement that if a chemical plant can use a safer chemical or process that would remove the threat of a poison gas disaster to hundreds of thousands of people, then it should do so. And in fact, an independent analysis showed that the disaster prevention legislation the House of Representatives passed in 2009 (which Rep. King voted against) would have created 8,000 jobs each year for the next decade, despite his unsubstantiated "job-crushing" claim.

While hundreds of facilities have already converted, many of the highest risk plants remain dangerous targets that terrorists could use to inflict mass casualties in almost every major American city. In fact, the highest risk chemical plant in the country, the Kuehne chemical facility in South Kearny New Jersey, threatens millions of people, many living across the river in Congressman King's own state of New York. According to the facility's report to the Environmental Protection Agency, 12 million people in the New York City-New Jersey area are threatened by the bulk storage of chlorine gas, which melts the lungs of victims and was used as a deadly chemical weapon in World War I.

Congressman Peter King appears more interested in political posturing and appeasing chemical industry lobbyists than tackling real terrorist threats like the risk of a poison gas disaster in New York and communities around the United States. Tell him to get serious now.

Seizing Our Power: Why Now Is the Time for Creative, Courageous, Nonviolent Action

Phil Radford — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 21:53:51 +0100

Below is a group letter from Becky Tarbotton (Director, Rainforest Action Network), Phil Radford (Director, Greenpeace USA), and Bill McKibben (Founder, 350.org). Inspired by recent events, the climate movement is reaching a pivotal turning point.

Dear friends,

Last week, a jury in Utah found Tim DeChristopher guilty for standing up to the oil and gas companies in an effort to protect our health and our climate.

Just in case the federal government thinks that it's intimidating people into silence with this kind of prosecution, think again. In fact, this is precisely the sort of event that reminds us just why we need creative, nonviolent protests and mass mobilizations.

Over the last six months we've witnessed big changes in the world that affect our need for creative, nonviolent protest which include:

* The wild and extreme weather that marked the end of the warmest year on record, with flooding in almost every corner of the planet

* The complete collapse of efforts on Capitol Hill to do anything about climate change

* The passing of Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which grants corporations unfettered influence over our elections

We've also seen a historic outpouring of people power to combat these environmental crises, reclaim our democracy and disrupt corporate influence. From the exhilarating outbreak of the freedom movement across North Africa and the Mideast to the amazing stand for democracy and worker's rights in Wisconsin, we are seeing the strength and effectiveness that average people can have when they we stand together.

There have been a growing number of inspiring examples of civil disobedience across the United States to protect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the climate that we depend on. On February 17, Greenpeace activists scaled a coal plant in Bridgeport, CT as part of an escalating campaign against the dirtiest coal plants across the country. Just five days before, one of our great environmental sages, Wendell Berry, joined a sit-in at the Kentucky governor's office to protest mountaintop removal coal mining.

Taken together, all of this confirms our belief that we need to continue to escalate the struggle for climate action.

It is not one event but a wave of actions that trigger social change. Paul Revere was not the only rider to warn of the British advance, and many people refused to move to the back of the bus before Rosa Parks. It is actions like Tim's that can create ripples that expand exponentially.

In a recent interview, Tim issued a challenge to all of us to seize the power we already have to make a difference:

"We think we have no power when in fact we have more than enough power. Right now, we have a big enough movement to win this battle; we just need to start acting like it. That's the message that the climate movement really needs to internalize. On an individual level, it means making the commitment that we're going to be powerful and effective agents of change; on the movement level, it's about making the decision that we're really going to win this battle."

We worry sometimes that we may have waited too long to get this battle going in earnest; the science is dark, and the politics are tough. But we know, from watching our inspiring colleagues around the world who are facing great dangers head on, that the best time to act is now. Over the coming weeks, each of our organizations, working together and individually, will be pursuing a variety of strategies to try and spark more mass, direct action.

Tim DeChristopher took a brave and lonely stand; it's time to make sure that in the future bravery comes in bigger quantities.

Onwards,

Bill McKibben, 350.org
Phil Radford, Greenpeace
Becky Tarbotton, Rainforest Action Network

Tim DeChristopher should be free. Arrest the real criminals.

Phil Radford — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:40:00 +0100

“I’ll join you.” That’s what the large crowd of supporters shouted back after hearing the announcement of Tim DeChristopher’s guilty verdict yesterday. After a week-long trial accompanied by a week-long solidarity rally, Tim DeChristopher, a modern American hero, was found guilty of two felonies for entering winning bids for the rights to thousands of acres near two national parks in Utah. DeChristopher could face up to 10 years in prison.

Tim DeChristopher, known as "Bidder 70," is a hero in the long American tradition of the Boston Tea Party, the Underground Railroad, and the Civil Rights Movement of civil disobedience to highlight the fact that some laws fly in the face of a higher, shared moral principle. Tim cleverly bid for the oil and gas leases on several parcels of federal land although he couldn't pay for them, thus jeopardizing the auction in an effort to save America’s wilderness for future generations and to highlight the immorality of burning coal, oil, and gas.

The guilty sentence that Tim is facing is a radical, disproportionate overreach to his action. DeChristopher stood up to protect our future from carbon pollution and the reckless hands of Big Oil. Just as racists should have been on trial in the Civil Rights Movement and the British during the Boston Tea Party, it is the oil and coal industries and their friends in Congress who pursue power and profit over the health of our children who should be in jail, not Tim.

"We know that now I’ll have to go to prison," DeChristopher said. "If we’re going to achieve our vision, many after me will have to join me as well."

A familiar – and frightening – story in Wisconsin

Phil Radford — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 20:05:00 +0100

David and Charles Koch, the billionaire oil baron brothers Greenpeace exposed last year for spending millions to gut environmental protections and fund junk climate change science, are at it again. This time in Wisconsin.

According to the New York Times, the Kochs are major financial backers of Governor Scott Walker and are using one of their front groups, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), to support the Governor's efforts to strip public employees of their right to have a say in the workplace. This is an extension of the 40-year strategy laid out by soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice Powell in 1971, which outlined the playbook for the Chamber of Commerce that worked to take over the courts, schools, Congress, and create a network of right-wing think tanks like the Cato Institute (started by the Koch Brothers) and front groups like Americans for Prosperity (also funded by the Kochs).

After filling the courts with Supreme Court justices like Justice Roberts, the activist judge who recently allowed unbridled corporate spending in elections, the corporate right like the Kochs are working to cut union ranks by up to 50% through state-by-state attacks on public employees, attempting to neuter the one force in electoral politics that could counter these big spenders.

If Americans for Prosperity sounds familiar, it should – they’re the group that has been touring the country for years telling people climate change isn’t real. Today we have found out that AFP is upping their work in Wisconsin with a $350,000 ad campaign to support Governor Walker's attack on workers' rights.

For the Koch brothers and AFP, this is all about undermining the democratic process. And this is why we all must stand with the public employees of Wisconsin and people everywhere who are trying to make their lives and communities better by taking peaceful action. Whether it is fighting for safe working conditions and a liveable wage or fighting to replace coal plants with clean energy, at the core we are fighting for the democratic right of all people to stand up to make the world a better place.

Chevron guilty of polluting the Amazon

Phil Radford — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 19:00:00 +0100

Last week a judge in Ecuador found Chevron guilty of polluting the Amazon rainforest and ordered the company to pay $9 billion in damages. Chevron plans to challenge the ruling. One top Chevron official has been quoted as saying that they would fight this case "until hell freezes over, and then skate on the ice."

Chevron has a long history of avoiding their dirty mistakes through greenwashing ads and paying reporters to create their own news videos about the contamination of the Amazon.

While Chevron tries to spin the truth in the U.S., its tricks in Ecuador may be far dirtier and deadlier. Recent evidence points to the possibility that Chevron tampered with contaminated samples that has been evidence in the case. Others testifying against Chevron have received death threats.

Write Chevron’s CEO and tell him the ruling is right – clean up Ecuador now.

Chicago's True Cost of Coal

Phil Radford — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 15:59:00 +0100

This week researchers at Harvard University released a historic study on the Full Cost of Coal. The study outlines the costs of each stage in the life cycle of coal—extraction, transport, processing, combustion, and waste. It concludes that the entire cycle of coal costs the American public up to one-half of a trillion dollars annually. Like many scientific climate studies, that is a conservative estimate.

For many people around the country the true cost of coal is much higher than any monetary value. From families whose homes are bulldozed in the name of mountaintop removal in Appalachia, to parents who have to miss days of work to treat their children’s asthma, the cost of coal is much more personal.

In my hometown of Chicago two of the country’s oldest power plants, Fisk and Crawford, are making the true cost off coal personal for thousands of people. More than 10% of Chicago’s population (310,173 residents) live within three miles of the plant, resulting in 40 deaths and a 44% asthma rate in children closest to the plants.

A coalition of organizations around the city are taking matters into their own hands to make the issue of coal personal for Mayor Daley, the city’s departing mayor who once called Chicago the greenest city in America.

This week environmental activists surprised Daley with a balloon-propelled message calling him to close Chicago’s two coal-burning power plants. The banner hung over City Hall reading “Mayor Daley – Is this your green legacy?”

As journalist Jeff Biggers describes, “Despite the fact that Chicago has ranked as the asthma epicenter of the nation, a growing movement in Chicago claims that Daley has blocked a proposed Clean Power Ordinance to effectively retire and transition the old plants to clean energy sources. Early this month, the mayor and his allies in City Hall refused to grant the Ordinance a hearing in the Energy, Environmental Protection and Public Utilities that is necessary for it to advance to a full City Council vote.”

If Mayor Daley wants to be a truly green mayor and show Chicago that he understands the true cost of coal he needs to make sure these killer coal plants shut down as soon as possible.

Koch’s Congress proposes to defund the EPA

Phil Radford — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:27:31 +0100

The EPA was set up in 1970 with a mandate to protect public health Our health. Our children’s health. Things were not so different in America at that time—an unpopular war, a recession-ridden economy—but we knew then that we have to protect the environment in order to protect our own health. Back then we had rivers catching on fire, today it's a global climate disaster. After 40 years we still need the EPA to ensure that the financial desires of greedy industry leaders don’t trump our needs as people. The government is supposed to work for the best interests of its citizens. It’s the very reason why lawmakers in a democracy have a job to begin with.

These needs have not changed, but many members of Congress seem to think that we don’t matter and don’t care anymore. They want to pass a continuing resolution that would cut $3 BILLION from EPA funding, eliminate its top positions, and block its ability to require that wealthy companies reduce carbon pollution. With no one to run the EPA, no money to run it with, and few tools to do anything, the EPA would barely be more than a ceremonial body.

With no one to protect Americans from dirty industries, they will continue to profit by taking unnecessary health, financial, and emotional risks. Asthma. Cancer. Tuberculosis. Infant mortality.

So why would the government take such incredibly high risks? The answer is simple: this is Koch’s Congress. The Koch Brothers, Big Oil, and Big Coal are filling our politician’s pockets with dirty campaign money that results in dirty energy policies like the proposal to cripple the EPA. They say they’re slashing the budget to save money and jobs, but how does that explain the $500,000,000,000 (yes, half a trillion) that Americans have to pay for coal-related problems, or the one million jobs that Americans stand to lose as a result of these cuts?

It’s time to step up and remind lawmakers who really put them in office. It’s time to remind them that we’re still here, we’re still calling the shots, and we’re still demanding they ensure a healthy economy AND environment for us and for our children.

New Contest for Exposing Polluter Lobbyists’ Influence

Phil Radford — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:44:00 +0100

Are you a lobbyist for the coal industry, looking for the best way to meet members of Congress who will put your dirty energy money ahead of modern environmental standards and their constituents' health? Maybe the chairman of a powerful congressional committee, seeking yet another industry lobbyist to join your staff and help roll back the Clean Air Act, choosing polluters over children's health? Or a giant oil company who wants everyone to forget about that devastating oil spill and need some insiders to pull the strings in the halls of power?

If so, then you need to check out Polluterharmony.com - the #1 matchmaking site for polluters, industry lobbyists, and politicians!

Now for the rest of us, don't worry, everyone can get in on the action. Just in time for Valentine's Day, we've launched the new "Polluterharmony contest" to help expose the special relationships between politicians in Washington, DC and polluters, their lobbyists and campaign contributions.

We launched Polluterharmony last year, featuring a series of videos that highlighted the connections between polluters and politicians - like industry lobbyists writing legislation that would gut the Clean Air Act, oil executives threatening our coasts with offshore oil drilling, and polluters funneling their dirty money to our elected officials.

But this new Congress is on a polluter dating binge, so we need your help to expose the most lurid examples of polluter-politico love. Submitting your polluterharmony suggestion is simple: if you use Twitter, just include the hashtag #polluterharmony and tweet anything that shows a special relationship between polluters and politicians. The best match will get a special Polluterharmony surprise!

Here's my first suggestion: @Phil_Radford: closed door meetings with industry to scheme attacks on the Clean Air Act http://politi.co/h8vvY1 Now that's #polluterharmony

Last year, Greenpeace activists delivered a special Polluterharmony message to a favorite polluter destination – Senator Lisa Murkowski's office. Who will get the next polluterharmony delivery? Send your suggestion on Twitter, and be sure to include #polluterhamony so we see it!

Two severe Amazon droughts in five years alarm scientists

Phil Radford — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:07:00 +0100

Tropical rainforests are called the lungs of the earth, because they suck in pollution and breath out clean, healthy air. There is a darker side to this story, though – without protection, these same forests could actually speed up global warming.

A new paper from a team of British and Brazilian researchers has some worrying news about the Amazon rainforest, the biggest single lung on the planet. It describes how last year’s drought left some areas as dry as a tinderbox.

The thing is, this happened in 2005 too. Back then the drought was described as a once in a hundred year event, but then it happened again.

The new study shows how these dry spells are really bad news for the trees, and many are dying. They then stop absorbing carbon dioxide and start pumping out gases as they burn or rot away. And so we get into a kind of vicious circle.

Climate science tells us that we’ll be seeing more droughts like this, more often. And if the rainforest starts breathing out more than it’s absorbing, then the forests begin to contribute to the problem they help solve today.

So far, so grim, but there are reasons for hope. Deforestation in the Amazon is falling, due in part to new agreements from the big players in the leather world (like Nike and Timberland) not to buy from ranchers who are cutting down the forest to graze cows. Larger chunks of rainforest are much better at withstanding drought, and so this drop in deforestation matters.

Every nation on earth also has a stake in this. By cutting carbon pollution down instead of trees, we can help to slowly stabilize the world’s climate and preserve the rainforests that are left.

Right now the world’s ancient rainforests are on our side in the fight against climate change. They can mop up a huge amount of our pollution, but there is a limit. It’s time for us to realise that this deal cuts two ways.

Victory: Shell announces they won't drill offshore oil in Alaska in 2011

Phil Radford — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 19:44:00 +0100

The Arctic has won a reprieve from offshore oil drilling this year. Oil giant Shell just announced they won’t pursue offshore oil drilling in the fragile Arctic environment in 2011.

This one-year delay was a hard-fought victory for environmentalists.

On the heels of the devastating Deepwater Horizon oil spill, thousands of Greenpeace members wrote the federal government asking them to halt offshore oil drilling.

Greenpeace activists took action on one of the vessels Shell was planning to use in the Arctic. Others stood up at government hearings, calling on President Obama’s team to stop offshore drilling. And, last summer, the Greenpeace crew on Arctic Sunrise, documented and exposed the truth around the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, bringing important information to the government and the public.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to stand up with us to fight for the people and wildlife of the Arctic.

As you know, we have been persistent in urging President Obama and Secretary Salazar to deny Shell permission to drill in the Arctic. Shell acknowledged that the continued delays in the federal permitting process were the primary reason for canceling drilling in 2010.

But, before we celebrate too much, we have to make sure that Shell’s plans for offshore drilling in the Arctic are canceled, not just for one year, but permanently. And we won’t rest until the government bans ALL new offshore drilling. The stakes – and the risks – are just too high.

Take action and tell Secretary Salazar to ban all offshore drilling in Alaska's Arctic waters for good.