Greenpeace

I live in Anchorage, Alaska, and this morning, during my morning ritual of stoking the wood stove and  reading the Anchorage Daily News, I was struck by the convergence of so many issues that have to do with oil.

On the front page of this morning’s newspaper is an article about a remote village in northwest Alaska, Kivalina, that is suing Exxon and other big oil companies because of global warming >> http://www.adn.com/front/story/327607.html  Kivalina is one of many villages on the coast of arctic Alaska that is  protected from winter storms by sea ice. Sea ice tamps down waves and prevents them from pummeling the shoreline. Global warming now means the sea ice forms later in the year, melts earlier, and as a result, villages such as Kivalina are being ravaged by winter storms that threaten their very existence.  Villages will have to relocate, but relocation will cost hundreds of millions of dollar per village, and where is the money going to come from? And even if a village is re-located, how will the community handle being moved from its traditional hunting and fishing grounds? Kivalina believes Exxon and its oil industry allies have engaged in a decades-long conspiracy to undermine climate science and block real action to stop global warming.

There is also a story about how today, almost 19 years after the Exxon Valdez ran aground and spilled 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska’s pristine Prince William Sound, the Supreme Court will hear a case about whether Exxon Mobil should have to pay punitive damages to the people who suffered and are still suffering the effects of that spill >> http://www.adn.com/front/story/327804.html Almost two decades since the Valdez disaster—two decades that have witnessed the highest profits ever earned by any company anywhere-- and Exxon’s still fighting to avoid responsibility.  One of the key questions the Supreme Court will consider is if Exxon Mobil should be held accountable for the actions of its Captain, Joseph Hazelwood, who was drunk when the supertanker ran aground.  As far as I’m concerned, the spill had nothing to do with Joseph Hazelwood’s addiction, it was caused by this country’s addiction to oil.  Yes, Exxon Mobil should be held accountable, finally and should have to pay through the nose for what it did. However, I am dismayed to hear little or nothing about how the country’s oil addiction has only worsened since the Exxon Valdez ran aground on March 24, 1989.  Big oil is making record profits for a reason.  We have met the enemy, and he is us.  We’re not doing enough to curb our addiction to oil, and there is certainly more that we can do to pressure our elected officials to wake up and smell the petroleum.

And at the same time, the Chukchi Lease Sale is in the news.  The Chukchi Sea is shared between Alaska and Russia. It is remote, hostile, and home to half the US population of polar bears. The Chukchi Sea is also in the cross hairs of the federal government that wants to open it up to oil drilling.  Oil companies have been salivating for decades at the prospect of oil drilling this vast, untouched part of the Alaska coast.  Up until now, it’s been too costly to seriously consider oil drilling in the Chukchi. But now that Alaska crude oil has reached the milestone of $100 per barrel >> http://www.adn.com/money/story/327647.html, drilling in the Chukchi is a reality. 

Our federal government sold off tracts in the Chukchi Sea in early February, the tracts closest to the shore are 25 miles away, meaning risky sub-sea pipeline technology will be used to transport oil from drilling platforms in an area that is covered by ice for much of the year. The government estimates about a 40 percent chance – just slightly better than 50/50-- of a major oil spill from these leases. There is little possibility of any effective spill response in this part of the world given it is covered by solid or broken ice for much of the year.  And while the oil industry says it can safely drill offshore, its record debunks that assertion as hogwash, to put it mildly. Several spills from offshore platforms have been as large or larger than the Exxon Valdez spill -- the Ekofisk in the North Sea, Ixtoc in the Gulf of Mexico, Funiwa No. 5 off Nigeria, among many other offshore disasters.

Last, as I prepare myself for my day at the Greenpeace office, I wonder if today will be the day when the federal government finally releases its decision about listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act?  The federal government missed its self-imposed decision deadline of January 9, which is suspiciously convenient given the Chukchi Lease sale took place on February 6.  The Department of Interior probably  figured out that it could not list the polar bear as threatened in January and then sell of its habitat for oil and gas leasing less than a month later.

I’m doing all I can to take responsibility for global warming. I heat my home with wood, I walk everywhere, and I put a lot of effort into reducing my own carbon footprint.  I just wish the oil companies and federal government would follow my lead. I don’t like to think what Alaska will look like in another ten or twenty years. I don’t want to pick up the morning newspaper and read about coastal villages being swept out to sea creating a new wave of environmental refugees, polar bears drowning and cannibalizing each other in even greater numbers, the sea ice disappearing completely in summer, and  oil spills in the pristine waters of the Chukchi Sea.  I want to read about windfarms, wave power and geothermal energy replacing dirty fossil fuels.  Those are the headlines I look forward to reading.

On the last day of the Boston Seafood Show our school of fish gave out awards to those dealers with the most unsustainable fishery practices. After being at the show for three days, it was pretty clear who the worst ocean offenders were.

Our school of fish went up to each of the winner’s booths and congratulated them on their award and slapped the award up on their booth. “I’m a dying species,” said the bluefin tuna, “I give you this award on behalf of my fellow fish and ask you to improve your practices so my family will be saved.”

Many of the winners were really happy at first when they received their award. They smiled and thanked us. But, their faces quickly turned grim when they actually read the award and the offenses they were being charged with.

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” said the orange roughy. “You better get a good look at us, take a picture even, because we won’t be around much longer.”

 
It was clear that we had gotten our message across. People took pictures and gathered around the booths while the awards were given out. Our activity is sure to have a ripple effect as the unsustainable seafood awards story makes its way around the offices of the seafood dealers and sellers.

Other than smelling like a giant fish stick by the end of three days at the Boston Seafood Show, I also took away some interesting information. We talked to many, many people from all corners of the seafood business. And, most, if not all of them agreed that sustainable seafood practices were absolutely the way to go. But, they insisted they were sustainable, themselves. They were quick to point the finger at other dealers and sellers and tell us how “green” they were.

But, that logic just didn’t make sense. The first step in a recovery process is to admit the problem at hand. We haven’t quite gotten there with the seafood sellers, but at least we started a dialog with them. And, now they know that Greenpeace (and it’s awesome supporters) are keeping an eye on them – holding them accountable to be better stewards for the ocean environment.

Ocean protection starts with all of us. We need to succeed because our oceans are in serious trouble and need our help to survive.

--Michelle

Yesterday, we pulled out the karaoke machine and our endangered fish sang their hearts out! They were singing to save their species from destructive fishing, tuning in to the seafood buyers and sellers as they walked by the Greenpeace booth.

As you can see from the photo, this orange roughy is giving the song all she’s got. As she tailored the words to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” to “Fish Just Wanna Stay Alive” visitors to our booth got the message loud and clear.

These fish also have a message for you… You can help too. Greenpeace needs to find out what seafood is being sold in your grocery stores. Are they selling fish from the Greenpeace Red List? Do they have a sustainable seafood policy? We need you to be our eyes and ears in you community.

I took the survey to my grocery store a couple of weeks ago and it was really easy. I just printed out the survey that we have posted online. I walked up to the seafood counter with my survey and my trusty pen. Then, I scanned the fish in the glass display, referencing the fish on my survey. If I saw a fish on the survey that was also in my store, I knew I had just obtained information that could help Greenpeace with their seafood campaign.

I even put the call out to my friends and family to help. My mom goes to the grocery store a couple times a week. So, she was excited to help out. She said she was nervous that someone was going to ask her what she was doing checking out their seafood, but no one actually did. She was a super sleuth and you can be a super sleuth too.

It really takes about 10-20 minutes to scan your seafood counter and frozen fish cases.

Our singing fishes will croon for you – if you can spare the time to help out!

I get a lot of calls from crazy people.  Well, to be fair they’re not all crazy.  In fact, most are sincere.  People simply desperate and asking for help.  Some want to save a single ancient tree on their main street, others are aware of a grand conspiracy (real & imagined), some are working on a movie script, college paper or novel.  If I can, I always try to take the time to listen and provide whatever guidance, assistance or perspective I can.  I do this largely for two reasons.  First, I can still recall what it was like to be new to Washington, DC and looking for my first job as an “environmentalist”.  Looking back I must have seemed crazy to a lot of people too, but I remember who took the time to help me think through the issues and clarifying my thinking.  I am grateful to them.  Second, you never know if someone is really rich and perhaps they’ll give Greenpeace a bunch of money if we don’t blow them off when they need help.  We don’t take money from corporations or governments, so every bit helps!

I remember when David Klass called me the first time: another guy writing a book.  In the madness of my typical day, I had completely forgotten that Karen Sack, our intrepid and brilliant Oceans campaigner, had told me to expect his call.  Karen had worked with David on his book “Firestorm”.  So I’m listening to David and thinking “so, you want me to tell you how to destroy the Amazon rainforest?”  …this guy better be rich.

Eventually I did put two and two together and David and I talked at length.  David was now working on “Whirlwind”, the second in his “The Caretaker” trilogy.  You see, in David’s series people have been sent back in time to either save or destroy the Earth.  There’s a war going on and what we do to the Earth today will have big implications on who wins.

Over the next few months he’d call out of the blue with a question or two.  It was kind of fun.  Although it had been a while, I have spent considerable time in the Amazon both in Brazil and Peru.  I’m also fortunate enough to have learned from the master, Paulo Adario, my Greenpeace counterpart in Brazil.  I’ve spent months on the rivers and I’ve flown over the region for hours and hours in a Cessna.  Especially from the air, the Amazon seems too big, too green, too lush and impossible for humanity to destroy.  Then you fly for hours and hours over fields with no forest in sight and you’re told that all that too was once intact rainforest.  Sadly, it can … and is, being destroyed.

One great misconception of the Amazon is that it’s empty of people.  Especially along the rivers-- the dominant mode of transportation, once you leave terra firma (dry land) in the eastern part and explore the vast western regions--you can’t go far without finding people living along the river’s edge.  There are 20 million people that call the Amazon their home.  This said, to be clear there are still enormously vast wilderness regions and numerous indigenous groups who have had no contact with the outside world.  This is one reason we can’t “save the Amazon” without taking into consideration the complex dynamic of social and economic issues … but I digress.   I’m supposed to be talking about David’s 2nd book, “Whirlwind”.

So anyway, I do know a thing or two about the Amazon and apparently just enough to make me dangerous in the mind of David Klass.  In our conversations, I soon found myself reverse engineering the Greenpeace forest campaign and every other positive environmental, social or economic initiative that I was aware of.  Apparently, I was typecast as the bad guy so I gave David my two-cents describing how to release the hounds of hell to destroy as much as possible of what I love. Like I said, it was fun ... in a weird, twisted kind of way.  I took comfort in the fact that, to the best of my knowledge, time travelers with quasi-omnipotent powers, don’t really exist … and besides Karen had told me that this guys Klass was a real author (thus, not sent back from the future to destroy the Amazon and shatter my career.) Still, it was a relief the other week when the book arrived in my office and I confirmed that David was not actually himself from the Dark Army of the future.  I really would have felt like a tool if he was.

So I’ve now read the book.  My kids (three and five) are still too young, … I think it’s a “t’ween” audience, but I personally thought it was great.  Perhaps I’m just a fan of the genre or maybe my wife is right when she tells me that I have the mind of an adolescent. Regardless, I concur with The New York Times Book review when it equated Whirlwind to Grand Theft Auto meets Al Gore.  It’s a fun read with an important environmental message.

How much I actually influenced David is, of course, up to debate ... although that bit in chapter 49 about the candiru fish is straight out of my nightmares and the subject still freaks me out to this day.  If the book sells as well as his first, I will of course tell my kids that it was all me.  If, on the other hand, David is actually an evil agent from the future I hereby disavow having ever talked to the man let alone had any influence.
 

- Scott 

On the second day of the Boston Seafood Show I decided to walk around to the other booths to see what was on display. To my surprise, one dealer had a banner advertising shark fin! I also found many examples of other fish from the Greenpeace red list including orange roughy, monkfish and swordfish.

So far, the people here have been very friendly to us. Our ocean campaigners are talking with them and seeing some common ground. The seafood sellers and dealers recognize the need for healthy oceans and sustainable practices. For the most part, they don’t disagree with us there. Where our campaigners are seeing a divide is on the way to get from how they are doing business now to how to get to a more sustainable business. We are trying to talk to them to bridge that gap. We are continuing to get our perspective out there and continue to push for more sustainable fisheries.

People are also really enjoying our fish costumes. Many have stopped by to ask if they can try it on and have their picture taken – glady!

Later on this afternoon our booth will be filled with a school of singing fish! That’s right, our fish are feeling musically inclined. They will belt out tunes on the Greenpeace karaoke machine, tailoring the words slightly to hit our target audience.

Stay tuned for pictures of the singing fish – you won’t want to miss that.

--Michelle

If you’re wondering where all the fish have gone – I think I might have found them here in Boston at the International Seafood Show. The convention center is filled with thousands of people and even more fish on display. As I sit here at Greenpeace’s booth at the show, I notice the people in the booth next to me are selling some sort of device that makes ice to help cool seafood once it’s caught from the ocean.

Everyone here is trying to sell something – whether it’s fish from their company or devices that will help chill, store or catch seafood. And, Greenpeace is here in the mix trying to get all these seafood buyers and sellers to really think about the big picture – saving the oceans they are profiting from pillaging.

While the sellers are trying to maximize their profits, Greenpeace is trying to educate them about the declining health of the ocean and how they play a big role in helping to turn the tide. We are encouraging them to stay away from Red List species and to adopt sustainable seafood practices in all their company operations.

What better way to get the attention of fish-heads, than to have some life-sized fish walking around and greeting them when they arrived at the seafood show? Our friendly fish handed out Greenpeace flyers and invited each person to come stop by our booth to chat with us more about sustainable seafood and how they can help protect the oceans by “greening-up” their seafood processes.

Will they be up for the challenge? We’ve got three days to find out… Stay tuned.

What’s the likelihood that a multinational corporation netting over $18 billion a year would be scared of a couple of undergraduate students?

Well if you ask Kimberly-Clark, the world’s largest tissue manufacturer, I think you might find the answer to be very likely.

Students all over the country have been organizing to get their universities to cut contracts with Kimberly-Clark due to the company’s heinous support of clear-cutting practices and failure to use recycled fiber. So far, students at Rice University, American University, Harvard University, the University of Miami and Skidmore College worked with their administrations to take action against the company and discontinue use of its products. In the beginning of 2008 Wesleyan students Aurora Margarita-Goldkamp ’10 and Georgina Yeomans ’10 convinced their university to do the same.

At the end of last semester, Aurora and Georgina submitted a proposal to the school’s Sustainability Committee and campus store Weshop to stop its sale of products made by Kimberly Clark. Weshop found that it could make the change without losing money or increasing prices and as of 2008 has stopped stocking Kimberly Clark products. Instead they have increased their supply of alternative brands like Green Forest.

Aurora and Gina don't plan to stop there though: According to the Wesleyan Argus, their “next target is the Kimberly Clark products that are still used in dorms and public buildings all over campus.”

 - Robin

For the whole Wesleyan story, check out the article

See a full list of universities that are part of the Kleercut movement

Get involved with other students to rid your campus of corporate criminal Kimberly-Clark

I was. I seriously was born on a bayou. Bayou Teche. My whole family is from three small towns in southern Louisiana. Lafayette, Broussard, and New Iberia. So when Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita through our entire nation into a tailspin of heartbreak and anger, I was particularly emotional. Luck was with my family that August because neither storm did much damage to my family's homes but instead nestled either side of my hometowns.

My little family, who has resided in Southern Florida, (a hurricane mecca in its own right) since 1987 and travel frequently to Acadiana (that's what the Cajun's call southern Louisiana). For Thanksgiving of 2006, we visited a cousin stationed in the National Guard in New Orleans. And I traveled the Ninth Ward with a dear of friend of many Greenpeace staff. Shylia Lewis. In 2004 we helped her build a Habitat for Humanity home for her family that was toxic free. You can read her Greenpeace story here. The Habitat houses on her block had the least amount of damage of all and Shylia said it was because those homes were built with love. I'm no sap even if it is Valentines Day, but I think she's on to something.

The reason I want to talk about the Gulf Coast today is because (1) communities and families are still recovering and they need our help and (2) the toxic contamination from these horrific storms has been outrageous and not widely covered, in fact covered up.

An article came out today from the CDC in Atlanta that discusses the toxic fumes Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims have been living in since 2005. There has been high levels (five times as much as in modern homes) of formaldehyde found in the trailors that FEMA gave to a large amount of Gulf Coast families. CDC announced that FEMA (you know the kids who refused to take any responsibility for the lack of humanity shown from governmental agencies after the hurricane) should move people out of those trailors immediately for fear of respiratory problems.

After complaining of headaches and nosebleeds and asking repeatedly to be moved out of the trailors, families finally talked to some lawyers and demanded that the trailors be checked out to see what could be causing their health concerns. CDC found it. Extremely high levels of toxic fumes.  

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has listed formaldehyde as a carcinogen and the EPA has listed it as a probable carcinogen.  

Read the CNN story.  

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Greenpeace isn't the only group that has worked on building toxic free homes on the Gulf Coast.

Unity Homes is still helping people live toxic free.  

Habitat for Humanity is in dire need of volunteers.  

And don't forget Jazz Festival is approaching!!  

Happy late Mardi Gras!

Renee  

Hello,

I'm very sorry I haven't updated my blog recently. I know how many of you check up on my  blog posting each morning. ha. 

So, I think I mentioned around thanksgiving that my good friend Liz is having a baby. She is due in two weeks!  Kind of exciting, a little scary, and making all my friends more interested in creating a toxic fee world.

Liz brings her own bags to the grocery store and she now uses a sigg bottle for her water. I gave a hard time for drinking out of plastic bottles the last time I was there. At first she just thought I was being an alarmist, but I kept sending her articles on the subject and she realized that I'm not the only one getting rid of them. Hey, I've known her since I was 14, I'm suppose to do stuff like that.

Work Group for Safe Markets recently released a study called Baby's Toxic Bottle. A little scary sounding I have to admit, but its based on the same reason I pushed Liz to get rid of the plastic water bottles. Bisphenol A. 

It's in disposable water bottles and now there is proof that it is in baby bottles. Not good for Liz junior. (actually his name is William, but I'll use Liz jr for now - I mean that's what he is)

With all this evidence that bisphenol A is an endocrine disruptor and biaccumulates in the body, many environmentalists and social justice advocates are calling for an immediate moratorium on the use of bisphenol A in baby bottles and other food and beverage containers. One of the biggest issues with this chemical is that is in hard polycarbonate plastics (nalgeens and baby bottles) and leaches when the bottle is heated up. So, when you leave your water bottle in the car while you go grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon and the sun warms it up or when new parents heat up formula in a heat bath on the stove in the baby bottle whoever drinks out of it gets a dose of Bisphenol A. Not exactly what you want to be feeding your newborn. But it turns out around 95% of baby bottles contain it. Bisphenol A was first designed as synthetic estrogen and then was later polymerized to produce polycarbonate. A synthetic hormone that was chemically treated to make baby bottles? Really?

You can read the report here. It also lists things that you can do to help and background information if you would like to know more.  

alright, i'm finished now. Its freezing in washington dc and I need some soup. minus the bisphenol A, I hope.

All the best,

Renee