Greenpeace

When we debuted our Guide for Greener Electronics, we started the discussion with needing cleaner and greener cell phones and laptops in our homes and pockets. Last week we introduced the need for the gifts we give to video game lovers to be cleaner and greener too. But I want to take a moment to highlight that that is not the end of greening the electronics industry. It doesn't stop with what we purchase.

Our world is getting smaller, we know this not only from our nation's more recent immigration, trade agreement, and climate change discussions, but also from the toxic toy story's that have saturated our tv's and newspapers the past few months. I'll be the first to admit that it's sometimes hard to put ourselves in the shoes of others whose lives we can barely even image. But it is because the world is getting smaller that we need to.

Listen, I'm no hippy. I'm a somewhat odd mix to the environmental justice movement. I like shopping, makeup, and late nights out with my friends. Being an environmentalist can be difficult sometimes. There are many issues that effect every aspect of your life, of your routines. I understand the world is not black and white. There are many grey areas that sometimes keep us from being the very best that we can. But it is our duty to try and to do better when we know better. And that is why we publish these guides, talk to the companies, and explain everything we find out and know to people like you. The people who buy these products and the people who want to be making informed decisions.

The hidden story of the electronics industry are the environmental impacts of the complete life cycle. Such as . . .

- The manufacturing process where the companies chose what chemicals went into the laptop that I am using right now. If you would like to know what they are read the report we released a couple weeks ago on just that subject. We found out through taking apart many different laptops that it is possible to produce a more environmentally friendly one.

- The consequences of what is leached from our computers into our homes, offices, and coffee shops. BFR's (brominated flame retardants) are additives to our products and so they leach out and become part of our dust and find themselves cozy little spaces to bio-accumulate in our bodies. Check out this recent report and interesting website. 35 people were tested and found that yes BFR's have settled in our bodies.

- The people who break these products apart on open flames, unprotected in the e-waste landfills of developing nations.

The good news is that all the companies we talk to know this. And so they should be doing better.  . . . because they know better.  

There are many organizations around the world working on ending the devastating toxic waste trade between developed and developing nations.  And so as much as I love(d) my mac (it was totally stolen Oct 1) it is difficult to not think about where it came from, what it is doing, and where it will eventually end up without thinking about all of the people and places that are effected by each segment of that computer's life.

Besides looking through our webpages, check out two of the organizations that are working with us.

Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition

Basel Action Network 

 

Holla from Cali,

Renee  

Hi all. I am from Minnesota, which, I am sorry to admit, is part of the United States. I am doing my best to manage in the heat and insanity of life in Washington DC. Since 2006, the country seems to have begun to come to its senses, but the climate hasn't improved at all. I am the proud father of a 2 and a half year old boy, who I think has a better facility with numbers than our President. Well, in fairness I bet the President knows that a 6 is a 9 when turned upside down. But I wonder if he has the imagination to turn a 4 into an H?

I love being part of the International team. I am continually amazed by how much a small group of dedicated people can positively influence international negotiations. If any of you have a question about whether some piece of information gleaned from some obscure source now means that Bush is about to change his position on climate change. The answer is no. He is not. Feel free to call me and ask any time, but rest assured, when he really changes his position, we will send out an e-mail or two.

-John Coequyt
Global Warming & Energy Team
blogging from Bali

Learn more about the climate negotiations here

ExxonSecrets is happy to be cited in fine new piece of dirtdigging published on Scholars and Rogues over the past two days (part I, part II) . 

 

We learn that our old pal Steve Milloy is up to his old tricks with his latest anti-environmental vehicle, DemandDebate.com , where he recently conducted an 'opinion survey' on global warming science  - completely unbiased of course - first covered on Real Climate in October.  Gives us some new meat to add to Milloy's ExxonSecrets file.   We also have the goods on Kenneth Greene, AEI, Cato, Reason, etc and other groups and people mentioned in the Scholars piece on ExxonSecrets.

 

By the by, Milloy was, without a fitting and proper ceremony, un-funded by Exxon recently, as we revealed in our May 2007 ExxonSecrets report.  But he remains joined at the hip with many of Exxon's front groups and the larger extremist conservative and liberatrian think tank militia.

 

Added value here: The Canadian Broadcasting Company's Fifth Estate did cool TV episode called The Denial Machine, on the overlap between tobacco denial and global warming denial and the PR firm APCO and its connections to Milloy and friends.

And here: George Monbiot further explored this connection here revealing a memo from Milloy's lockbox on the early days of big tobacco funding his Advancement of Sound Science Coalition.  Monbiot wrote:

"By May 1993, as another memo from APCO to Philip Morris shows, the fake citizens' group had a name: the Advancement of Sound Science Coalition. It was important, further letters stated, "to ensure that TASSC has a diverse group of contributors"; to "link the tobacco issue with other more 'politically correct' products"; and to associate scientific studies that cast smoking in a bad light with "broader questions about government research and regulations" - such as "global warming", "nuclear waste disposal" and "biotechnology". APCO would engage in the "intensive recruitment of high-profile representatives from business and industry, scientists, public officials, and other individuals interested in promoting the use of sound science". "

More dirt on Milloy is always a welcome treat! thanks. 

Opps we did it again. We just released our 6th Greener Electronics Guide and this time we've expanded! We've include game consoles and TVs.

Remember how this goes?

We rank companies on their policies and practices on toxic chemicals and takeback. The main point to why we do this each quarter is that as electronic products become more often than not disposable products, companies need to look more closely at the life cycle of their products. Toxic chemicals in means toxic chemicals out. And most of the time those toxic chemicals are being released into your home, and the land, water, and bodies of the people who 'recycle' them in the developing world. And you don't have to be a genius or a CEO of some mega corporation to realize that  . . . well, that's just crap.

You can read the guide here. But I'll give you a sneak preview.

Nintendo got a zero. I mean a zero, boys and girls. I'll admit we are tough critics, but we've never given a zero before.  Microsoft scored a 2.7 and Philips did ummm not too well with a 2.

People are always asking what's with scoring them based on their policies and practices, basically what they tell us. Don't worry folks, we are all good follow up-ers here at Greenpeace and we are making sure they stick to their promises. But the bottom line is that companies should be transparent. They should be telling their customers what it is in their products and they should make them safe and toxic free.

So this is it. One step closer to greening the electronic industry.

Take Care,

Renee  

 

Seattle is awesome and it totally doesn't rain everyday. It hasn't rained once. It's super cold, but not rainy.

Yesterday we went to Pike Market and snacked on cheese and lattes most of the afternoon. There is a crumpet shop. Who knew what a crumpet was? Well . . . a lot of people, but I wasn't one of them until we walked up 1st and Pike.

I'm here in Seattle visiting an old friend Liz. She is 5 months pregnant and just married. So weird. When did people start doing that?

Sometimes I feel Liz is way more environmentally aware than I am. She makes her own cleaning products and recycles in ways I still don't understand. When the baby comes she is going to make her own food and use cloth diapers. And with the news reports every other week or so on new toxic chemicals found in toys, she is growing concerned with what she is bringing into the house.

But the reality is the everyday items we use in our homes have toxins as well. One of the most dangerous chemicals that has been getting attention on a state level across the nation are brominated flame retardants. I also mentioned those when I was in San Jose traveling around with that giant skull made out of e-waste.

Warning: ridiculously long words ahead 

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) have many subsets, including polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs. There are three common commerical types, but two have been voluntarily phased out due to health and environmental concerns. The one that is still in use is called deca-bde. It exists in an ungodly number of home items. Including your tvs, couches and mattresses. One of the reasons it is so horrible is because it is an additive and leaks out of whatever product it is in. That's why the dust in our homes is so full of chemicals. It's also why you shouldn't carry around those plastic reusable water bottles.

States have started recognizing the dangers of BFRs. Maine's ban on deca-BDE goes into effect at the end of the year. One thing Liz can feel safe about is that Washington state has also passed a ban on deca. A number of other states are also debating the same type of legislation. You should know about it. Do a quick search on your state and deca ban. See what you find out. With all this talk on gross chemicals in our homes, knowing that there are people in your communities working to end it is pretty comforting.

Happy Saturday.

Renee  

 

The hunt is on! When I last wrote we were positioned just off the coast of japan awaiting the departure of the whaling fleet. They had already delayed their departure several days due to a meeting between the new Japanese Prime Minister and George Bush at the white house. The Japanese government wanted to avoid the tidal wave of negative media they knew would result when we intercepted them on their way to the southern ocean. Their commercial whaling program is a source of great diplomatic tension between Japan and the U.S. (a pro-whale conservation nation.) Once the meeting had ended the fleet delayed just a little longer so that they could leave port under the cover of darkness. We had sources to alert us when the mother ship threw off her dock lines. We got the word they had left the dock and we calculated their speed and came up with an ETA for them to reach the sea. The time came and they still had not arrived, a few hours past and still nothing. Then finally our radar detected a ship approximately the same size as the processing ship and moving at around the same speed. With no other means to confirm its identity we were forced to assume that this was the ship we were looking for. Then just as the ship came out of the channel our radar lit up like a christmas tree.

The Japanese government had strategically positioned a fleet of coast guard and navy vessels at the entrance to the ocean and all at once they turned off their AIS (Automated Identification Systems) and saturated our radar screen with a barrage of similar sized vessels all traveling at the same speed in every direction of the compass.

The Japanese military knew our exact location the entire time as they had used both coast guard air planes and helicopters conduct regular low level fly-overs of the Esperanza everyday for several days proceeding the fleets departure, not to mention our campaign had gone public and we were as always transparent and clear in our position and mission.

The captain was forced to use his best judgement and deductive reasoning to try and pick a needle from the haystack of Japanese decoys. at around midnight we made our choice and set a course to track down what we hoped was the mother ship of the fleet. We closed in just around day break and much much much to our dismay we could just make out the vessel on the horizon and confirmed that it was not our ship but one of the military decoys.

We immediately set our course for due south and began steaming full speed ahead to try and make up for time lost on the decoy. The Esperanza can sail faster than the mother ship and over the course of several days we hoped to close the gap between us.

If ever there was one iota of doubt about the illegitimacy and deception that is this so called ¨Research Project¨ it is gone now. This was a large scale military operation carried out at the expense of the Japanese tax payers. As Americans we are well aware of the operating costs of planes and ships and the Japanese government just served up a pretty hefty bill to its taxpayers all in the name of disguising a whaling program that 69% of the citizens adamantly oppose.

We are not a military superpower, we are just one ship, we have solid technology but nothing capable of trumping the Japanese navy. The fact that the government went to such great lengths and expense to sneak its whaling fleet past us in the middle of the night is bold testament to the fact that they are hiding commercial whaling and not conducting science at all. Were this a legitimate research operation then they should have nothing to hide and would be proactive in encouraging transparency and openness.

Their military operations have not stopped. Immediately after we altered our course south a high speed long range Japanese coast guard cutter began shadowing us. It assumed a position just on the outskirts of our radar and set a speed and course identical to our
own. They have remained there for four days now with no signs of leaving.

I will not lie. all of us onboard were very disappointed that the fleet got a head start on us. The next morning most folks spirits were down in their boots. So I did the one thing I know to do to cheer people up. I strapped on the the apron and headed to the galley. The cooks have Sundays off so myself and a few others took on brunch for forty hungry sailors.

If there is one thing in this world that can always cheer me up it is the smell of frying bacon and this ship has a skillet big enough for a whole hog. Note: we also made pancakes and veggies for our non carnivorous mates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
That was four days ago. Now it is Thanksgiving for me being fourteen hours ahead, and instead of a turkey I got something else that starts with a T, a typhoon.

Right now we are franticly scrambling to steer through a tropical storm that was just upgraded to a typhoon. Unfortunately, if we do make it through said typhoon we will be positioned directly at the meeting point of two other typhoons on a collision course for one-another. I cannot describe to you the motion of the ocean and the rolling of the ship. So I will just say this, I am writing this blog laying spread eagle face down on the floor. I have both legs wedge in between bookcases and one hand pinning down my laptop, typing with the index finger of my free hand.

But rest assured navy decoys and typhoons are no match for this ship and her crew. We are charged more than ever and have no doubt in our minds that we will find the whalers and keep them from killing. Peace, to you and yours on this holiday, to my family I miss you and am sorry I am not there to cook dinner, if anyone is pressed to find something to be thankful for today, let it be that the couch you are watch football on is not going to be flipped upside down by a wave twice the size of your house, as mine was this morning :)

After you wake up from your turkey/tofu induced nap, prop yourself up in bed and go to greenpeace.org and sign up to be a whale defender!  Also, stay tuned because we are going to launch a massive global cyber action in the very near future where you can demand that the prime minister of japan put an end to this senseless slaughter! 

Hi Everyone,

So I'm sure you are busy with your holiday plans. Maybe baking a little pumpkin pie? I've moved out to the west coast for a few weeks. I'm visiting a friend who just got married and is now 5 months pregnant. I'm reaching that age where friends are doing things like that now. Liz and I met when we were 14. And as I think back through all those years, I never thought either one of us would end up where we currently are. She in Seattle with her husband (I mean her kid won't even be a Floridian!!) and me at Greenpeace talking about superfund sites. The good news is we both feel right at home and are pretty darn happy.

So . . . I wanted to mention this website I just found about superfund sites. In case you didn't know they are disgusting and a huge problem for communities. Its pretty interesting to find out who the top 25 polluters are, though I'm not that surprised -- Dow and Exxon anyone?

Right now it talks mostly about places on the east coast, but places in Texas, Louisiana, and California are taking a toll on its residents too. In fact here is a list of sites in Louisiana. I just did a quick google search on Lafayette, Louisiana where I was born and where most of my family continues to live. I found 10. Broussard, Louisiana a city that has one stop light and about 10 relatives - has one. 

Anyways, just thought you might be interested in learning more. Check out the site and do a quick search of your town. 

 

Take care, Renee  

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change just released their latest bombshell--a summary of their previous work that brings together a very scary vision for the future if we don't act now on global warming.

Essentially, the IPCC echoed what every serious person has been saying for years--the planet is warming, we're the cause, and we must stop now to stave off untold despair and suffering. I read their report with a real sadness and a certainty that the scale of the problem was greater than I could understand.

My uneasiness was supported by what I saw the next two days. On Saturday I took my usual Saturday bike ride up through the hills of Marin County, here in sunny CA.  As I reached the quiet town of Sausalito, I couldn't help but notice along the bike path all the cars filled with people who drove to ride their bikes. Yes, drove to ride their bikes! I thought to myself, how can we expect change when some people are so selfish, so clueless?

Then Sunday I watched the talking heads on display on the Sunday morning talk shows. First came Meet the Press, then Face the Nation and then This Week. With the IPCC's recent report fresh in my mind, I figured to hear some fresh policy discussions on the problem. Nope. Only John Edwards spoke about the issue and he only mentioned it in passing. It appears the media-created narratives of Hillary's experience verus Barack's youthful exhuberence were the topics of the day, along with a healthy helping of Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee sparring news. Goodness gracious, folks. We're out here yearning for you to lead. Can't you hear us? Do you even want to?

Naturally, and with wonderful calm, my optimism returned today as I sat at my desk at work. It was then, surrounded by my amazing and brave colleagues, that I was reminded that Greenpeace will not stop until we change the debate. Change the future. Change the world. Wanna join us? Go to www.projecthotseat.org to see how.  

Daniel
Media Officer 

 

Greenpeace and  Kimberly-Clark have announced the successful resolution of the Kleercut campaign as the maker of Kleenex has established a new sustainability policy focused on protecting Endangered Forests. Go to www.greenpeace.org/kleercut to find out more!

If you're interested in learning about the Boreal Forest we always refer to when discussing Kimberly-Clark, there is a new music video featuring the Boreal and current threats to the ecosystem.  Put together by three high school students for a class project over a year ago, the musicians will be presented with an award for their work on December 1st.  Please take a moment to view the music video. 

- Lindsey 

 

 

This is my first blog for this expedition to the Southern Ocean aboard the MY Esperanza, actually it is my first blog ever.  I plan on writing many more over the course of the next several months.  I will just say upfront that I am not very good with the flowery rainbows and majestic sunset stories so I am just gonna tell it how it is. Let me also add this disclaimer.  This is a really long blog (two pages) but many things have happened over the last month and I was unable to share them with you as they happened, as to not announce the ship’s intentions or position to the Japanese.  In the future I will write more frequently and more concisely now that we the expedition has gone public.

I joined the ship in South Korea where we were tied alongside at an industrial ship yard. 

The ship had been there for a few weeks before I arrived and the crew had already begun tackling a long lists of repairs and maintenance that had been delayed for lack of parts and moreover, time.

 

 

 

 

When the ship is sailing everyone has more than their share of responsibilities and little repairs here and there fall to the wayside out of necessity. 

I was a bit anxious upon my arrival.  I am a first mate on a fairly large vessel at home in Florida, but this was my first expedition on a Greenpeace ship and something told me it was going to be a little different from what I was accustom to.  I was right!  For starters I quickly realized that I am the only American in a crew of now 34, soon to be 45.  As I am sure you can imagine our countryś reputation for social irresponsibility and environmental negligence forged a skeptical (at best) reputation that well proceeded me.  In addition to that I am the youngest member of the crew at ripe ole 27.  However, I am far from a greenhorn when it comes to the sea and knew I just needed an opportunity to prove my metal.  Well, I got it almost immediately.  On my first day a quiet and pensive lad, shorter in stature but well salty and wearing the countanence of a man who had stared into a crystal ball (compass) for more days than I had been alive, approached me on the poop deck.  He had only to say a few words and I realized he was the captain.  We spoke briefly about my experience and skills and he immediately offered me an opportunity to be a member of the engineering department.  I accepted and was introduced to a team of seven very talented individuals from all over, Germany, Sweden, Argentina, Ireland, and now the US.  Each engineer has their own niche be it, fitter, electrician, mechanic.  Mine would be to assist with overall operations of the engines and to focus on repairing and maintaining the small fleet of rigid hulled inflatable boats on board.  It could not have worked out better.  Now I could spend time working on my baby, Billy G,

the workhorse of the fleet and the boat I will drive in front of the hunting ships in the Southern Ocean.

One of my first challenges was to go ashore and find two items.  Sounds simple enough right?  Wrong!  The first part was three yards of 1mm metal screen to be used to fashion homemade filters for various raw water pumps.  The second, was a nutt, just one little metric nutt.  But this one little nutt was the missing piece to a hydrolic pump that was keeping one of the jet boats from running.  I was handed a a huge roll of cash (the exchange rate from US dollars to Korean currency is 1 to 900).  I didn´t have to walk far before I found myself amidst a maze of narrow alleys and passages lined with openair machine shops and scrap metal piles.  As soon as I left the ship I was without a doubt the only non-Korean person for several miles.  I was wearing sunglasses, hair in pony tail, oil stained carhart pants and work boots.  Hydrolic pump in hand I began approaching stalls that looked like they might have the nutt I needed.  However, I could not get within ten feet of a shop before the owner would run out in the street waving their hands frantically infront of my face and shaking their head saying, ¨NONONO.¨  I was really confused.  I lived in Thailand for over a year and considered myself fluent in the traditional customs and curticies of Eastern cultures.  I was humble, polite, and passive.  I bowed at the waist always taking care to position myself beneath whomever I was greeting, no small feet for a six footer.  Still, with palms up and kind smile I was chased all the way down the street. 

Then it all became clear.  I stopped at a busy intersection to gain my bearings and happened to see my reflection in a shop window.  My t-shirt!  I was wearing an old favorite raggedy shirt.  It is blue and has an American flag in the center and beneath the flag reads, ¨BUSH - SATAN 2004¨ 

I am fairly confident that the people that were shunning me did not find the humor in the slogan but were capable of recognizing the flag accompanied by the notorious BUSH.  I dipped into an alley and turned the shirt inside out.  Again, I set out down a gauntlet of sparks and welding smoke but this time my reception was much much warmer.  I found an old man asleep on a pile of rolled up steel mesh.  After making sure his bed consisted of the screen I needed I gently woke him and began the usual game of sherades to communicate to him the type and quantity of what I needed.  He whipped out this enormous pair of metal sheers and began to cut me off what he thought I asked for.  In doing so the roll of steel slipped from under his knee and coiled up like a yo-yo causing him to slice the palm of his hand wide open with the sheers.  He scream loud and began bleeding all over the place.  He ran off through a maze of metal racks and I followed after him.  When he got to his stash of bandages he was startled to see that I was right behind him.  He motioned that he was ok and for me to go back outside.  I was not convinced and took a few steps back to see the severity of his injury.  He fumbled with his good hand to open packages of gauze and tape.  I wanted to help but was not willing to risk offending him.  Finally, I could not watch this old man continue to bleed all over himself and his shop.  I sat him down and gave him a look that said, ¨don´t be ridiculous, let me help you, you stubborn old coot.¨ He conceded and we got him all sorted out.  We walked back out to the street and I finished cutting the screen.  I then pulled out my bank roll and motioned for the bill he had scratched on a box top.  He smiled, bowed, and tore the box top inhalf, motioning for me to go on my way this one was on the house. One item off my list. I was just hoping the nutt I was seeking would not result in so much blood shed.

 

The simple little nutt became a needle in a haystack almost instantly.  As I approached people sitting atop mounds of scrap and random pieces, I held out my pump and pointed to the bolt protruding from the top.  Each time they would disappear and return with a five gallon bucket filled to the rim with fasteners of every size and shape you could imagine, and each time i sat on my knees and pillaged through millions of bits, but to no avail.  It was getting dark and I was not totally confident I knew the way back to the ship, but I was not going back without this nutt.  By this time I had become the equivalent of a traveling side show scavenging up and down alleys. I also had acquired a fan.  A little guy probably eleven or twelve i would say.  Every time I turned around he would dip behind a pile of old engines in a good ole fashion game of peak-a-boo.  By this time he had disappeared, but as I was staring aimlessly at makeshift street signs that had no meaning to me, I spotted him again standing on the hood of a junker car.  The car sat in front of a auto-body shop, so I thought, ẅhat the heck it is worth a shot.  I crossed the street and entered an open garage bay.  Turns out the kids dad was the owner and as he saw me enter the kid ran over and whispered something in his ear.  They both had a good laugh, at my expense I am sure, but by this time I did not care I just wanted my nutt.  The dad pulled out yet another huge bucket of bits.  This time he took the initiative to begin the digging and pretty quickly came up with the closest match yet.  It was the right diameter, but was too thick.  He spun around, pulled down his welding helmet, and fired up a saw that looked like it could slice through a tank with no problem.  Bare handed he held the nutt right up to the blade and from a shower of sparks came a perfect fit.  Again, I graciously bowed and he instantly saw the look of relief on my face.  I reached for my pocket and he waved his hands and bowed, again insinuating that it was on the house.  I gave the little guy a high five up high, one in the middle, but of course he was too slow for the one way down low J

 

On my walk back to the ship I marinated on the last five or six hours, amazed by how different it had ended from how it began, humbled, embarrassed, almost ashamed at the impact of the t-shirt. 

 

Upon returning to the ship everyone had called it quits for the day and were relaxing on the helicopter deck.  When I produced the nutt and the metal screen there was silence.  It turned out that several of them had set out on this exact same mission days before and all had returned empty handed.  It wasn't until I returned the wad of cash just as thick as it was when it was given to me that a round of applause broke the silence.  Everyone, demanded the story but I was exhausted and knew that I could not have done the day justice with words, and I really needed a cold beer!    

 

 The next day we cast off the lines and set sail for ¨Jakarta.¨ I put in quotes because we never really intended to arrive in Jakarta we were using that as our heading to try and fool the Japanese fleet into thinking we were not there for them.  A few days at sea and I began to really feel at home on the ship.  Working from eight to five in the engine room 

 

and draped over diesel engines on inflatables, preparing them for the extreme conditions they would have to perform in in the Southern Ocean.  In my down time in the evenings I tried to make my cabin as homey as possible by pinning up pictures of my family and my girlfriend and two cats.

 

I share a cabin with a really cool guy from New Zealand.  He is the Bosun on the ship.  He is in charge of the deckhands, general maintenance, crane operator, etc.  His name is Grant and he is 34. 

 

 

 

 

His trade at home is that of an arborist for a conservation society that tends to national parks.  Very smart man and we got along from the get go which was good because we were about to share a small and miserable space.  Being a Floridian I was pretty anxious about going to Antarctica.  Having not worn a pair of close-toed shoes in four years I packed every warm thing generous friends could dig out of the tops of their closets.  My dad spent 30 years in the air force so he was the big contributed of cold weather gear.  Little does the US military know but they sponsored me on this expedition, thanks Uncle Sam.  But the joke was soon to be on me.  I was so myopic in my wardrobe planning I failed to realize that sailing from South Korea to Antarctica required at least two months of sailing through tropical climates and crossing the equator.  It was around eighty degrees out and getting warmer.  The ship has air conditioning but in the name of fuel conservation the chief engineer elected not to use it.  Each cabin has at least one port hole, but as you can imagine they are small and when the seas are rough, as they have been, you cannot keep them open for the water coming in.  So imagine a steel can with 35 people sweating profusely all the while being shaken about in fifteen to twenty foot seas.  It was miserable.  People began sleeping on deck until it rained for several days in a row.  Sticky sleepless nights resulted in cranky crew.  But levity was soon brought to the irritable group, at my expense of course.  Each night I began trying to sleep in my bunk but would retreat to a hallway or common area in seek of air circulation.  One night I got up and climbed down from my sauna.  The port hole was open so I decided to lay down on our vinyl couch that was next to it.  I managed to dose off for a bit, but soon awoke for some odd reason.  I opened my eyes and in the pitch black I could make out two bright white circles coming towards my face.  Thankfully, at the last second my eyes came into focus and I realized those weren't circles at all, THOSE WERE BARE BUTT CHEEKS!  Grant had awoke in a pile of sweat himself and had the same idea I did.  He had stumbled over and was going to plop down on the couch aka my face.  I screamed like a little girl and luckily scared him so bad he aborted his landing and jumped into the air.  We were both definitely awake now and had quickly relocated to opposite sides of the nine by six cabin.  We stood in silence for a minute and then at the same time began rambling about how hot it was and how we should go for fresh air.  Laughing our ¨butts¨ off we made our way up to the bridge to see what was on the radar screen besides a full moon.  I knew that I planned on working to erase the incident from my memory asap, but the next morning at breakfast I was greeted with uproarious laughter and applause.  Grant had thought the whole thing to be so funny he shared it with the rest of the crew and again the Yankee provided the laughs.

Laughter soon came to a halt upon receiving word that the fresh water maker had a broken pump and there would be no more laundry washing and showers were limited to three minutes or less.  Not what you want to hear when you have been sweating 24/7 for two weeks.  In addition to that the helicopter mechanic had discovered a crack in the control box that could not be repaired on board.  This meant that we would have to detour to a port and try and get a new pump and parts for the heli.  The most logical choice was Taiwan.  Two-thirds of the things made this planet come from this little island so we figured if we can´t find it there we probably aren´t going to find it.  We spent three days alongside in Keelund, Taiwan.  We managed to get what we needed and then were on our way again.  We sailed for a week and then under the cover of darkness, we turned off our locating and tracking devices, becoming invisible and altered our course for the waters just south of Japan.  There we would wait for the whaling fleet to leave and there we would begin to shadow them on their mission to murder whales in the international whale sanctuary of the Southern Ocean.  As we sailed we conducted daily trainings on the inflatables.  Practicing, launching and recovering, pacing, navigation, transferring passengers while underway. 

These boats are high performance machines but they are no better than the person who is behind the wheel and the water where we are heading are unforgiving and mistakes result in serious injury or death.  

 One morning I came out to the poop deck to have my morning tea and I saw the captain and several crew standing on the side of the ship and pointing astern.  They had spotted a Japanese navy cargo vessel, and if we had spotted them, they had surely seen us.  There went our cover.  The Japanese government and their whaling fleet now knew we were there and most certainly knew why.  We continued on and just yesterday came withing 36 miles of the coast of Japan.  Territorial waters of any nation end 12 miles out but Japan has decided that they have the right to extend that boundary by another 24 miles.  So, in order to avoid the chance of being boarded and taken in to port and held until they whaling fleet could leave and get away we lingered on the cusp of their self proclaimed territory, and that is where I am writing from right now.  We are ready, more than ready.  There is no doubt that every person on this ship from the newest deckhand to the captain are determined to do whatever it takes to stop this senseless slaughter of these beautiful creatures.  Whales face a endless threats, including being caught in nets, ship-strikes, and climate change.  The Japanese government should not be adding research whaling to these threats, especially when significant research can be accomplished without harpooning whales.  300,000 whales and dolphins die caught in nets each year, that is one every 90 seconds - and countless more through other man-made impacts. To allow the Japanese government to hunt them for fake science is just madness and we won´t have it!  Everything we need to know about whales can be learned without shooting them with grenade tipped explosive harpoons.  The hunters are set to leave any moment know and I only hope that they are aware of the passion and resolve that drives this ship and its crew wherever we must go.

 

 

Today 6 whales riding segways went looking for Prime Minister Fukuda of Japan who was meeting with President Bush today in Washington, DC. Neo, a humpback whale and mother, penned a letter to the PM asking him to use his authority to cancel this years whale hunt and to end commercial whaling for all time.

 
Neo and her family had a sighting of the Prime Minister at the White House, but he was too busy with Bush to chat with the whales. She and her family then went to Japanese media outlets to try to tell their story, and then the US State Dept to enlist the help of the U.S. government.

Failing to find a way to meet the Prime Minister at these locations, the whales went to the Japanese embassy where a Japanese diplomat came outside, thanked us for coming and took the letter to the Prime Minister.

Check out the slideshow!
 

    
 

Greenpeace and  Kimberly-Clark have announced the successful resolution of the Kleercut campaign as the maker of Kleenex has established a new sustainability policy focused on protecting Endangered Forests. Go to www.greenpeace.org/kleercut to find out more!

As most folks know we've been working for the past couple years to get Kimberly-Clark, makers of Kleenex, Scott, Cottonelle, and Viva, to commit to using more recycled and FSC certified content in their disposable paper products.

In an age of increased environmental concern we are seeing a parallel increase in corporate greenwashing efforts.  This week it was a relief to see Kimberly-Clark’s faux greenness outed in the Ethical Corporation magazine.  Here's an excerpt, you can read the full article or subscribe to their emails.

According to Dave Challis, Kimberly-Clark’s “sustainability manager” for Europe: “Working with the Carbon Trust is a perfect fit with our overall sustainability policies. We have long held objectives to reduce carbon emissions through our ‘Vision’ global environmental programme and this is an extension of that work. For Kimberly-Clark, exploring how the entire retail industry reaches a common measurement for carbon emissions is vital and we are delighted to be involved at this early stage.”

Sounds marvellous, doesn’t it? Is this the same Kimberly-Clark that has been widely condemned for its indiscriminate pillaging of the ancient North American Boreal Forest? According to environmentalists, Kimberly-Clark has gobbled wood from forests in Ontario for more than 70 years, driving massive clearcutting and environmental degradation.

The company stands accused of turning endangered forests in Ontario’s largest forest management unit – the Kenogami – into disposable products to be flushed down the drain or dumped into landfills. Without a break in this chain of forest destruction, wildlife such as the woodland caribou may disappear from the Kenogami altogether. Presumably one way for Kimberly-Clark to reduce its carbon footprint would be to stop this climate-busting practice with immediate effect.

In other news Kimberly-Clark's Cottonelle brand strikes out in a Grist magazine toilet paper review.  As they put it "While this one felt quite easy on the arse, some staffers reported feeling only guilt, as they suspected it wasn't so easy on the earth."  You can read the full article and compare some of the leading recycled toilet paper brands here.

- Lindsey  

Japan’s new Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda, is in Washington, DC making the rounds and we wanted to make sure that he knows how Americans feel about Japan’s whaling practices—they totally stink!

Despite an international moratorium on whaling, Japan continues to whale under the guise of “scientific research.” We’re not buying it.

So, a bunch of us suited up in humpback and blue whale costumes and hit the pavement to see if we could find Mr. Fukuda and deliver our message. We were a pod of whales seeking sanctuary from Japan’s relentless whale hunting.

 

While we didn’t find the Prime Minister, we did feel the love from fellow Americans. They wanted to know what more they could do to help us seek sanctuary and had fun taking our pictures and honking their horns in support.

President Bush is meeting with Mr. Fukuda later in the week. Do you think he’ll deliver our message of whale sanctuary or just shake his hand and smile?

 

DeSmogBlog has a nice one by Ross Gelbspan today reporting on a Financial Times article today featuring Exxon CEO Rex "T-Rex" Tillerson's latest tirade against the notion of Energy Independence at the World Energy Congress in Rome...

Remember Exxon's attack on the Bush Administration after his famous "addicted to oil" quote in the State of the Union.  Apparently they take this stuff pretty personally.

 

It turns out Exxon's comrades in Denial are a little upset by U.S. momentum on global warming policy at the state level.  I guess they see the writing on the wall - as the states move, so will the Fed.  While we know they are too late to stop the train leaving the station, we fear they will continue to try to derail it.

The Institute for Southern Studes revealed today that the John Locke Foundation launched state level attacks on the Center for Climate Strategies starting this September .  The Center coaches states on good climate policy ideas.  In a nice connect-the-dots analysis, the researchers reveal that the Locke gang teamed up with Exxon's pals at Heartland Institute and get funding from a slew of Exxon-funded organizations.

Here is an ExxonSecrets custom map of the players named in the investigation.  You can start from there and expand any of the organizations to show who else is tangled in this web.

 

I always wake up to NPR and sometimes I have a hard time telling if what I am hearing is a dream or reality, especially with the current state of our nation. This morning I heard two things that kept me guessing.

(1) Our national debt hit a record high -- $7 Trillion. I just kept picturing little kids making up numbers . . . . I have 7 gazillionbillionmilliontrillion dollars. Its like  . .  what?!? . ... . .. We owe who what?

(2) Children toys contain the date rape drug GHB.  

 

Is it safe to get out of bed yet?

Renee  

I'm not sure how many of you have heard, but Target has been, um, targeted by dozens of environmental organizations over the past year to eliminate PVC from their product lines. And on Monday they announced that they be eliminating the amount of PVC, also known as vinyl, in their own products including infant toys, shower curtains, and fashion accessories. They also announced that they will begin collaborating with their vendors whose products are sold in their store in order to do the same. Just to give you a better understanding of what a large victory this is let me tell you that Target is the 5th largest retailer in the country with $59 billion in revenues.

In a world where doll manufactures are almost weekly recalling their products because they contain banned chemicals, this step shows that companies are listening to us. They are hearing that consumers want toxic free products. That they are demanding it. This victory and several like it tells the story of a world that is changing. Companies are beginning to take on the series threats that are facing our world and how their actions are contributing.

An International Herald Tribune article came out yesterday explaining how companies are starting to ask questions of their entire supply chain. The article even provides a quote from an executive saying that "if you are going to make a real difference, you have to let go of your corporate ego". Wow! Can you believe that statement? The world really is changing. They are listening and they are paying attention to us.

But it's easy to start letting up the pressure when you hear statements like that. This is not the time to stop demanding a toxic free future. This is the time to step it up. Remember the chemical industry spent almost $10 million more on lobbying Homeland Security to not protect us from chemical threats than the department spent on actually protecting us.

If you want to know more about the Target victory, read this.  

 Thank you Center for Health, Environment, and Justice to leading this campaign and the dozens and dozens of local and national groups for keeping up the pressure and creating a system where corporations are starting to take responsibility for their actions.

--Renee  

 

This past Saturday was the second Step It Up, a national day of action to find out who are the real leaders on global warming. This day of action built on Step It Up’s April 14 rally, which produced more than 1,400 events in 50 states, the largest global warming event in U.S. history.

Greenpeace contributed to Step It Up in a big way. Our Project Hot Seat field organizers held events in 11 places and our Frontline campaign had six events of their own. Here in San Francisco, we joined with other Green groups and had a rally outside the UN Plaza. The day was well-attended; we even had an appearance from erstwhile candidate for the House,  Cindy Sheehan. 

If you don't know anything about Step It Up, here are their demands, which almost mirror our own: a carbon cut of 80 percent by 2050, a moratorium on any new coal-fired power plants, and five million new Green jobs.  Check out photos from Greenpeace's events here and go over to www.stepitup2007.org to see what happened nationally.

Now that Step It up is over, we'll go back to work on getting Congress to take action. The best bill in the House to accomplish a significant reduction in CO2 emissions is Henry Waxman’s Safe Climate Act. The bill has 142 co-sponsors. The magic number is 216, the number of votes needed in the House to pass a bill. You can help keep up the momentum from Step It Up and help pass the Safe Climate Act at www.projecthotseat.org.

Best wishes,

Daniel Kessler
Greenpeace Media Officer  

Thousands of students gathered outside Congress today to lobby for a greener future. Students from all over the US representing several college campuses from Alaska to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico left their differences behind, overcame student apathy, and united in one voice to demand bold changes with the current environmental Legislation. With their personal stories and passion students proposed the 1SKY Platform in the US Congress. The 1Sky Platform consists of bold principles to be applied in specific pieces of legislation that address global warming as a priority.

The 1Sky movement puts priority in what it takes to tackle global warming in an effective way. The first principle consists on creating over 5 million green jobs creating opportunities of involvement in the environmental movements to the working class. These green jobs would trigger the momentum needed to create healthy, efficient communities, and develop our local economy while we conserve 20% of our energy by 2015. Second, as the US we need to lead the world once more in technology and innovation and take the initiative to cut reduce carbon emission by an 80% by 2050. Lastly, the 1Sky Platform proposes that Congress should reprogram their investments to more clean energy and smart transportation.

In times in which we are deeply concerned for the effects of global warming, students and voters took action once more and discuss with their congressmen the actions needed to put an end to global warming. The students had undergo a weekend of training and discussion regarding the environment in the 1st annual Powershift conference. This conference was organized by a joint group of organizations known as the Energy Action Coalition. Powershift ended today with a massive lobby day in which students from across the nation meet outside the House of Representatives, wearing green hard hats and chanted with all their heart “20% by 2015.” We expect that as youth from this nation our voice is heard as much as our vote is taken into consideration. And as we make history, we know that Powershift is the beginning of a long journey. A journey that got started today when thousands of students took the challenge to develop some networking and relationships that are needed so that their voice for a greener future is heard loud and clear and we always “remember, remember the 5th of November.”

- Emanuel Figueroa

The following posting is from Hayden who is at our Forest Defenders Camp. Learn more about the camp and threats to Indonesian forests.

I spent this morning at one of the dam construction sites as one of the standby medics.  I was the only one who got hurt this morning though.  I was climbing down the face of one of the dams when I used a piece of wood that hadn't been nailed in as an anchor (always test your anchors!).  I came tumbling down into the water, along with my camera. My camera appears like it will recover.  And I escaped with only a small scrape.

I departed the work site with about 15 hugs (turns out Indonesians are huggers - either that or they assumed that Americans are) - I even got a hug from our stoic Finnish action coordinator, Petteri.

I'm really going to miss many people here.  I've made a lot of new friendships with people from all over the world.  And it's been an awesome experience to be a part of this camp, where people converge from all over the world for the same purpose:  to save the remaining peatland forest (and all the stored carbon it contains.)

Right now Rob is stapling up all the articles that we're featured in. There are stories in many different languages from newspapers all over the world.  There's actually not enough room on the wall for all of them.  To see the articles is a great reminder that what we're doing here is making a difference.

Although I'm leaving, the the work of the camp is continuing.  Many more journalists are arriving next week, and interest is continuing to pick up.  It's almost a good thing that the dam construction is taking so long, as it gives more opportunities for the press to witness what is happening here.

I want to thank Rici, Rob, Geoff, Coang, John, Yudi, Hapsoro, David, Frode, JJ, Cedar, Yifang, Titis, Ranga, Oka, Imam, the U.S. Consulate in Medan, and everyone else who has helped make the camp work  (and that's a lot of people, at least 200 others, not including all of our generous donors).

As I was leaving the dam site today, someone yelled "don't forget us!" - I'm sure that I will never forget this experience.

Hayden 

I have to drop a short one in here on the story from Saturday's Washington Post revealing that the Smithsonian Institution was lined up to take a $5 million dollar donation from the American Petroleum Institute (Exxon's the biggest member by far) to do a major new exhibit on the world's oceans at the Museum of Natural History...

The grant is stalled for now because a couple members of the Smithsonian's Board of Regents, Senator Patrick Leahy and (oil man) Roger Sant raised concerns.  Broad sweeping irony and  outrage aside, one can imagine the snickers and high-fives inside the API mothership in late August when the project was approved..."What!! They fell for it! Holy crap! 

And what loser at Smithsonian sealed this deal and thought it was a GOOD idea? Where is Captain Hazelwood working these days anyway?

The donation is on the rocks for now...it could have sunk the fine Smithsonian's credibility.

Why would Exxon pay a known global warming denial scientist to spread doubt about the impact of global warming on polar bears?   Hmmm, interesting question.  More to the point, why would Exxon want to keep the public from connecting fossil fuel combustion and greenhouse gas emissions to the bear’s demise?

We discovered this plot in the spring, during the flood of discussion around our legal action to force the US Fish &Wildlife Service (FWS) to list the polar bear as an the endangered species.  This work, initiated by the Center for Biological Diversity in 2005, has helped to elevate attention to the polar bears' plight, generating wave upon wave of media coverage.  

During the public comment period on the proposed bear listing, a draft of a new polar bear science paper surfaced. It had been submitted to the obscure Journal of Ecological Complexity. The paper's lead author is Markus Dyck of Nunavut Arctic College, the co-authors include several lead ExxonSecrets actors, Willie Soon, Sallie Baliunas, David Legates and Tim Ball.

DeSmogBlog has more goods on Mr. Ball here.

Here's a new map of this gang and their wide connections to the Exxon-funded network of front groups.

These people and organizations are also detailed on our new wiki pages.  Please add more stuff if you've got it!

The Alaskan Department of Fish and Game even referenced the paper in its comments to the USFWS this spring.

Fast forward…Ecological Complexity finally published the paper this summer as a Viewpoint article - not peer reviewed.  Then the fun began...in the back page acknowledgments we read that Mr. Soon started this work with Dyck in 2002, but then he makes a startling admission:

“W. Soon’s effort for completion of this paper was partially supported by grants from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, American Petroleum Institute and Exxon-Mobil Corporation.”

The Koch Foundation is a known contributor to several free-market libertarian organizations including the Cato Institute.  The Koch brothers recently bought Georgia Pacific Corporation using their oil bankroll.

We know Soon and Baliunas have been paid by API before, most notably for their 2003 attack on Micheal Mann’s “hockey stick” work published by the George Marshall Institute  as reported by Jeff Nesmith of Cox News Service in June 2003, just as we launched.

But direct funding from ExxonMobil Corporation is something very unusual to see in print and certainly demands some answers from Exxon.

After an October 17th House Science Committee hearing entitled, Disappearing Polar Bears and Permafrost: Is a Global Warming Tipping Point Embedded in the Ice?, Rep. Brad Miller of North Carolina penned a letter to Exxon demanding answers.  He wrote, “Exxon has the right to fund any research or publications it wishes.  However, the Congress and the public have the right to know why ExxonMobil is funding a scientist whose writing is outside his area of expertise to create the impression that expert scientists have conducted rigorous, peer-reviewed work that says the problems with polar bears are unproven or unserious.”

ABC.com “The Blotter” covered Rep. Miller's letter well. New Scientist also covered the story, but fell for another corporate front group, quoting Craig Loehle, one of the editors of the Journal of Ecological Complexity, who defends Willie Soon's right to take corporate money.  New Scientist failed to note that Loehle's organization, the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc. is funded by the timber and paper industry.  NCASI calls itself an "Independent non-profit research institute that focuses on environmental topics of interest to the forest products industry".  hmmm...www.kimberlyclarksecrets?

Back to the Dyck, Soon paper, there are so many blatant flaws in the “science” of the paper that leading polar bear scientists Sterling and Derocher felt compelled to respond here.  Derocher has been going back and forth with these characters for years its seems.

When we asked the ice scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center for their take on the Dyck, Soon paper, they sent back pages and pages of detailed analysis of the errors and omissions in the paper's sea ice assumptions and conclusions.

There are real questions remaining for you investigative reporters out there.

How much was Mr Soon paid?
Over what time period?  
Exactly what was the contract from Exxon?
Are there other scientists getting cash straight from Exxon Corporate?
Why doesn't the company report this "science" funding to its shareholders?

...Enough for now, but this story will continue.

The following posting is from Hayden who is at our Forest Defenders Camp. Learn more about the camp and threats to Indonesian forests.

Constructing the dams in the peatland canals over the last few days has been extremely challenging.  Getting materials ontime, extremely hot weather, and today we had probably our most interesting challenge.

We showed up to the building site of dam number three only to find a pompong (boat) stuck behind our half constructed dam.  In it was a mother and father with five children, and all of their possessions.  It turns out that they had just been evicted by Duta Palma from their house they were building.  The company told them they were squatting illegally and had to leave.  So they left the way they got there, using one of the canals at high tide.  Except this time their way was blocked.

We worked all morning as the tide rose with the family hanging out in their boat right behind the dam.  They even had a rooster they had tied to a tree nearby.

Finally at high tide we had to deal with moving a huge boat with a diesel engine over our dam.  None of us were looking forward to it, and many of us thought it might be impossible with the tools and people power we had available to us.

We used wooden poles as a ramp up over the dam, and used two lengths of rope wrapped under the boat to help lift and push it, inch by inch, over the dam.  Fortunately it worked.

Afterward I asked Petteri, the Finnish action coordinator who is helping coordinate the dam building, if he was taught how to deal with that situation in action planning school.  He replied with his usual finnish chuckle.

We now have two dams completed, and another one about halfway done.  But today is my last day.  I'm off tomorrow, as I've been here nearly a month.  In fact, I have the current record for the person who has been here at camp the longest.  People say they can notice, as apparently I appear very comfortable here.  In fact, I sleep very well every night now.  And I've acclimated to the heat - I watch the new arrivals drip with sweat after being in the sun for only 2 minutes.  I also get some enjoyment in watching them squirm every evening as the bugs swarm around them.  Maybe it is time for me to leave...

 - Hayden

The following posting is from Hayden who is at our Forest Defenders Camp. Learn more about the camp and threats to Indonesian forests.

I wanted to write a quick web log entry about our major means of transportation here in this corner of Sumatra: the pompong

The pompong is THE means of transport on the rivers here.  In fact, it's the only type of boat that I've seen on the Cinaku and Indragiri rivers.

The pompong is a custom made boat that is long and narrow, and comes in a variety of sizes.  What they all have in common is an old school inboard diesel engine that can be heard from over a mile away.  The engines have no electrics.  It is started with a crank, just like the old cars.  And being a diesel there are no spark plugs involved. The engine is then connected to a shaft that runs through the hull at a very shallow angle and sits just behind the middle of the boat.  This protects the prop from river debris, which is important since the rivers here are almost swamps.   It also allows the boat to go in very shallow waters, which is important for the work of the pompong.  They use these boats for transport, fishing, and shipping.

The steering system is very basic, like everything on the boat.  It uses two ropes that wrap around the steering column that then run back to the rudder.  While the potential for steering failure is high, any problems can be fixed while on the water.  I've been witness to this, as we lost steering through a narrow canal, but they merely retied the ropes and we were off again.

On Cedar and JJ's trip back to Rengat yesterday they actually lost the rudder.  Luckily they were close to the village of Kuala Cinaku.  The driver of the boat disembarked and disappeared in the bushes and reappeared about 30 minutes later with a new rudder.  Having a standardized vessel for the entire region makes finding spare parts easier.

The name of the boat is derived from the sound that they make: pompongpompongpompong...

They are so loud it sounds like a helicopter approaching, and I'm sure some of the pompong drivers have long term hearing loss, as the sound can be deafening.

And the last feature of the ponpong is that anything goes; anything can be towed, no lifejackets required, smoking is allowed, even if you're sitting on the gas tank, and the capacity of the boat is as many people as can fit. This morning, on our way to the damming site, we fit about 15 people on the boat, and then towed two canoes full of people. We managed to get a crew of about 30 to the work site in one trip.

The pompong is what keeps things moving (incluging Greenpeace) here in Riau.

- Hayden