Seems the government of Indonesia didn't much like Greenpeace activists trying to disrupt the continued destruction of rainforest as its converted into palm oil plantations. Nor did they appreciate foreign journalists documenting the situation. On Monday two non-Indonesian activists, as well as an Indian and an Italian journalist were deported from the country:
The journalists, from the Hindustan Times and L'espresso, as well as one the activists, were stopped "while observing the devastating effects of deforestation on the side of a public road" near Pekanbaru, Sumatra, Greenpeace said in a press release. The second activist was detained at the Greenpeace Climate Defenders' Camp.
All Had Proper Papers, Government Says Otherwise
Antara News reports the journalists were deported for lacking permits to engage in journalistic activities in the region, while the activists were given the boot for violating their tourist visas and because they were "about to undertake an illegal activity" and for being in "association with illegal activities."
Greenpeace's representative for Indonesia says all of the deported did indeed have the correct travel documents and visas, and that all were kicked out on "questionable, whimsical and seemingly contrived grounds."
Back in April, the Indonesian government deported 11 Greenpeace activists for taking part in direct action events on the site of forest and peatland destruction.
The last meeting before Copenhagen next month, and as with Bush we see the same obstructionism with the Obama administration? WTF? Is this really why Obama is so fervent about shoving healthcare bills down our throat now? Shouldn't we have tackled the most crucial crisis leading to our health ills first?The last meeting before Copenhagen next month, and as with Bush we see the same... more
SHOCKING NEW NASA DATA / NEW PREDICTION = "3 TO 5 YEARS NO ICE IN ARCTIC"
THE PERMAFROST = IS NOW THAWING....
3-5 years All Arctic Ice will be gone. Five years after that... no ice on either pole!
Watch Video as prehistoric methane gas is released under the ice from the thawing permafrost below is ignited.
NEW DATA: The original time to reach the permafrost thawing tipping point wasn't predicted to happen until 2050.
We need to understand what is happening and how the effects of what is now taking place... will change all our lives in the "months and few years ahead".SHOCKING NEW NASA DATA / NEW PREDICTION = "3 TO 5 YEARS NO ICE IN ARCTIC"
THE... more
Dan Miller's presentation focuses on why the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports are actually best case scenarios. For example, IPCC climate models do not include the effect of melting permafrost releasing greenhouse gases, even though the permafrost is melting now and it holds more greenhouse gases than all that mankind has ever released.
Another example is that IPCC predictions of sea level rise only take into account thermal expansion of the oceans and melting of glaciers; the largest factor, disintegration of glaciers, was not included because it is hard to model. The result is that sea level rise will likely be substantially higher this century than the IPCC predicts.
Miller discusses several other potential catastrophes that are not included in IPCC predictions and also discusses tipping points that could put climate change solutions out of our reach in years or decades, the psychology of climate change, and why it is difficult for people to respond to the threat posed by a warming earth.
His talk concludes with a discussion of ways to address climate change and the risks and opportunities that companies face due to the climate crisis.
Greenpeace warned President Obama in a report released today that Congress is on track to undermine his promises of a clean energy future. Without the president's intervention, climate legislation moving through Congress will simply result in a continuation of business as usual.
The report is a five-count indictment of the House and Senate legislation, highlighting their maximum dangers to successful U.S. climate policy.
In the House-passed American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) bill — and potentially in the proposed Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, headed into Senate hearings next week — Greenpeace says Congress is planning to:
• Undermine the Clean Air Act,
• Set carbon caps that would be far too weak,
• Sanctify coal as the nation's primary “clean” energy,
• Give away the lion's share of pollution allowances to big polluters, and
• Do virtually nothing to accelerate a national shift to renewable energy.
“Individually and together, these points of danger constitute an existential threat to the integrity of the law and the ability of the United States to resume its place as a respected leader in the world,” Greenpeace writes in the report Business as Usual.
With the right direction from the president, however, the Senate still has time to rectify the problems and take effective action.
Obama has an opportunity to provide that first firm push on Friday, when he is scheduled to give a speech on clean energy at MIT. If he stands up for his principles and demands better legislation from Congress, he could be hailed as a hero when hundreds of thousands of people around the world gather on Saturday for the 350.org International Day of Climate Action.Greenpeace warned President Obama in a report released today that Congress is on track... more
More than a decade ago in the northeast corner of Bolivia, a group of polluters and environmentalists joined forces in the first large-scale experiment to curb climate change with a strategy that promised to suit their competing interests: compensating for greenhouse gas emissions by preserving forests.
The coalition of U.S. utility companies, two nonprofit groups and the Bolivian government had the common goal of making a dent in the worldwide deforestation that accounts for about 17 percent of greenhouse gas emissions each year. The outcome of that experiment is fueling debate over a key element in international climate strategy.
While the Noel Kempff Mercado Climate Action Project has succeeded in keeping a biologically rich preserve of more than 6,000 square miles free from logging, it has fallen far short of its goal of reducing emissions. The mix of pragmatism and idealism -- providing powerful financial incentives to encourage influential companies and poor countries to work together to slow global warming -- shows the complexity of a much-heralded approach that Democratic lawmakers and international negotiators are trying to write into law.
Preventing the clearing and burning of tropical forests, which help absorb carbon dioxide and provide habitat to an array of species, has become a critical objective for environmentalists.
"It doesn't matter who caused the problem. We are in it together," said Wangari Maathai, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her work on tree planting in Africa and appealed to President Obama in a meeting last week on the need to preserve forests overseas. "If forests can be kept standing, it would be good for developed nations, it would be good for the developing world."
It also gives the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases more affordable carbon credits under the cap-and-trade system Congress is now debating. Without international offsets, pollution allowances would be 89 percent more expensive under the climate bill authored by Democratic Reps. Henry A. Waxman (Calif.) and Edward J. Markey (Mass.), according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Sixty percent of the international offsets would come from tropical forests, the agency said.
"Including offsets from tropical forests in a climate bill is a key to affordability," said Nigel Purvis, executive director of the bipartisan Commission on Climate and Tropical Forests. "It would be geopolitically and economically foolish for us to push back on that."
But a report Greenpeace will release Thursday questions the premise of using forest conservation overseas to compensate for U.S. pollution, noting that Noel Kempff envisioned keeping 55 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere over 30 years but has lowered that expectation to 5.8 million. The revised estimates do not take into account that logging may have moved to areas to the north, east and southwest of the project. And the report notes that the project's three corporate underwriters -- American Electric Power, BP America and PacifiCorp -- overestimated how much carbon the project kept from entering the atmosphere, telling the EPA it accounted for 7.4 million metric tons from 1997 to 2004.
"At this crucial time, with the [climate] negotiations in Copenhagen and U.S. legislation, can we afford to take a gamble on what the backers of these programs say haven't been as effective as they anticipated?" said Greenpeace spokesman Daniel Kessler.
American Electric Power chief executive Michael G. Morris said Greenpeace is naive to suggest the world should create a multibillion-dollar fund to preserve forests instead of letting corporations undertake these initiatives to meet their bottom line.
"When Greenpeace says the only reason American Electric Power wants to do this is because it doesn't want to shut down its coal plants, my answer is, 'You bet, because our coal plants serve our customers very cost-effectively.'More than a decade ago in the northeast corner of Bolivia, a group of polluters and... more
In an effort to raise awareness about the importance of strong political action in preventing climate change, 55 activists from Greenpeace scaled the walls of the UK's Houses of Parliament yesterday. There was little resistance from police as they moved ladders into place to make the ascent. Once on the roof they unfurled yellow banners saying "Change the politics, save the climate". At the time of this writing, 31 activists remain on the roof, while 24 descended and were promptly arrested:
This direct action comes as parliament ministers return from summer break and the UK Committee on Climate Change releases its assessment of progress in reducing emissions, which indicates that Britain must cut emissions six times faster than is currently being done if current climate change commitments are to be met.
Government is Letting the World's People Down
Commenting on the roof occupation, Greenpeace's Anna Jones was quoted in The Guardian as saying direct action of this type was fully justified,
Now is the time to start putting policies in place to make sure we are on the right trajectory to peak our emissions and bring them down. But instead we have a government that is prepared to lock us into high carbon projects like the third runway at Heathrow.
Climate change is the biggest challenge we are facing. It takes action like this to make the politicians wake up. They are letting us down and letting down citizens around the world.
Greenpeace Has a Climate Change 12 Step Program
Greenpeace has recommended 12 policies that the UK should undertake to protect the climate, these include: Guaranteeing that the UK power sector be emit near zero carbon by 2030; immediately ruling out any new coal power plants without fully abated emissions; committing to a target of 42% emission reductions by 2020; retrofitting existing buildings to make them more energy efficient; committing to 15% of the UK's total energy use come from renewables by 2020.In an effort to raise awareness about the importance of strong political action in... more
Now more than ever, we need President Obama's leadership to stop global warming, and he needs to hear from YOU and everyone you know. Join us on October 24th to make sure that President Obama understands that the time for politics has passed and that the time for leadership is now. We cant do it without you.Now more than ever, we need President Obama's leadership to stop global warming, and... more
LONDRA, 12 ottobre 2009 - Dopo diciotto ore, trentuno attivisti di Greenpeace sono ancora sul tetto del palazzo di Westminster, 24 sul tetto del Grand Committee Chamber e sette sulla punta più alta del Westminster Hall, pronti a salutare i parlamentari che oggi tornano al Parlamento dopo la pausa estiva. Gli attivisti che sono scesi dal palazzo sono stati tutti arrestati con l'accusa di occupazione e violazione della sicurezza.
Fuori Westminister cinquanta volontari stanno consegnando a dipendenti pubblici e parlamentari dei volantini contenenti i dodici punti per trasformare il Regno Unito in un paese basato su un'economia a basse emissioni e costruire la fiducia necessaria per sbloccare i negoziati internazionali sulla strada di Copenhagen.
Brikesh Singh, uno degli attivisti sul tetto più alto, ha detto: “Siamo molto contenti che ci siano così tanti di noi ancora qui a ricordare i parlamentari che ci sia appena cinquanta cinque giorni fino al vertice ONU sul clima a Copenhagen. I negoziati sono in fase di stallo, abbiamo bisogno di una leadership da parte delle nazioni sviluppate come il Regno Unito se vogliamo davvero raggiungere l’accordo di cui abbiamo bisogno, mentre stiamo rapidamente esaurendo il tempo a nostra disposizione”.
Gli attivisti, che ieri erano 55, hanno scavalcato le ringhiere del palazzo, salendo con delle scale. Cinque climber hanno scalato il parafulmine di 15 metri mentre gli altri 35 sono su un tetto più basso, con tende, cibo e acqua sufficienti.
www.greenpeace.itLONDRA, 12 ottobre 2009 - Dopo diciotto ore, trentuno attivisti di Greenpeace sono... more
Activists on Wednesday occupied two conveyor belts used to transfer bitumen from an open pit mine to a processing plant, demanding the closure of Canada's vast oil sands.
Greenpeace members from Canada, France, Germany and Brazil occupied the site owned by Canadian oil giant Suncor, the second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the oil sands, to denounce their exploitation as a "climate crime."
"The continued development of the tar sands threatens to derail international climate action and must be abandoned," Greenpeace said in a statement.
Reached by phone, one of 23 activists said Suncor security did not intervene to stop the protest.
Their sit-in comes two weeks after Greenpeace briefly stopped operations at a nearby Shell oil sands mine.
At an estimated 175 billion barrels, Alberta's oil sands are the second largest oil reserve in the world behind Saudi Arabia, but they were neglected for years, except by local companies, because of high extraction costs.
Since 2000, skyrocketing crude oil prices and improved extraction methods have made exploitation more economical, and have lured several multinational oil companies to mine the sands.Activists on Wednesday occupied two conveyor belts used to transfer bitumen from an... more
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Environmental activists said on Wednesday they canoed into Suncor Energy Inc's Alberta oil sands operation, blocking equipment in a second protest action in as many weeks aimed at disrupting crude production.CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Environmental activists said on Wednesday they canoed... more
Now, what have Apple and HP done to get on Greenpeace’s good side? We brought up Apple’s efforts to placate the environmental organization the other day,Now, what have Apple and HP done to get on Greenpeace’s good side? We brought up... more
Yesterday, shortly after 10:00 am activists snuck out onto Pittsburgh's West End Bridge, attached their climbing gear to the railing and swung over the side to unfurl a massive banner. The banner is a road sign for the G20, the finance ministers of the world's largest national economies who are meeting their this week. It is a road sign warning them if they don't act, the consequences will be dire.
The activists hung strong for 2 hours before ascending and being brought into custody by the police. 12 hours later this video came out and I had to post it. Not because I work for Greenpeace (I do), not because many of the activists are my friends (they are), but because it gives these brave activists a chance to ask and answer a question we all need to think about:
Why am I here today?
So I want to ask you, why would you take bold action to stop global warming?
Would you do it for your grandchildren? For arctic ecosystems? For farmers in Africa? For your cousin on the Gulf Coast? To tell world leaders you are ready and ask why aren't they?
I would take bold action because I am so inspired by my friends who carried out this amazing action that world leaders cannot ignore.
For the planet!
Chris, Greenpeace Online OrganizerYesterday, shortly after 10:00 am activists snuck out onto Pittsburgh's West End... more
Tauranga, New Zealand — John Key’s Government today admitted that production of palm kernel animal feed is helping destroy Indonesian and Malaysian rainforests.
In response to questions in Parliament about palm kernel imports, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English, speaking on behalf of Prime Minister John Key, admitted that the production of palm kernel harms the environment saying, "Of course, it has some impact; the Government does not deny that."
Mr English also sought to deflect attention from Fonterra’s use of palm kernel by twice challenging Greenpeace to picket the nation's supermarkets over palm-oil products such as margarine, processed foods and soap.
Greenpeace New Zealand climate campaigner Simon Boxer said Mr English’s statement showed that the government had moved its position.
“It’s clear that the Government has been poorly advised by Fonterra on the realities of the rainforest and climate destruction wrought by the palm industry. The Government knows New Zealand’s palm kernel imports impact the world’s climate and are damaging our clean, green reputation. John Key needs to stop listening to Fonterra and act to stop palm kernel imports.”
Following on from yesterday’s blockade of a palm kernel shipment by Greenpeace activists over 100 people, including farmers, gathered at a public rally outside the Port of Tauranga late today to demonstrate support for stopping palm kernel imports.
The 15 activists involved in yesterday’s blockade were arrested and charged with summary offences and will appear in Tauranga District Court next Wednesday.Tauranga, New Zealand — John Key’s Government today admitted that production of... more
Trafigura, the oil-trading company at the centre of the scandal caused by the dumping of tons of toxic waste in one of the world's poorest countries, could be prosecuted for murder after a dossier of evidence was submitted to a court in the Netherlands yesterday, alleging that the sludge caused deaths and serious injuries.
A complaint filed by Greenpeace Netherlands calls for a Dutch prosecution arising from Trafigura's actions in July 2006 – when a chartered tanker carrying the contaminated waste arrived in Amsterdam – to be widened to include events in Ivory Coast a month later which caused thousands of people to fall ill after tons of the foul-smelling slurry was dumped in the port of Abidjan.
The campaigning group wants Dutch courts to order public prosecutors to bring charges of murder, manslaughter, negligence and conspiracy against the London-based commodities giant, which has vigorously denied any knowledge of the fly-tipping of the waste by an Ivorian sub-contractor in August 2006.Trafigura, the oil-trading company at the centre of the scandal caused by the dumping... more
C.R.O.C. was created to promote the benefits of carbon offsets to folks like you. Just like a pollution-belching corporation, you too are now able to wreak environmental destruction when you earn a sufficient amount of carbon offset points. If you do something good for the environment, it just makes sense you get to do something bad to it. Or vice versa. Keep the logic circular, is what we say. Spin baby, spin!
Check us out at www.thecroc.org and on Twitter at twitter.com/itsacrocC.R.O.C. was created to promote the benefits of carbon offsets to folks like you. Just... more
C.R.O.C. was created to promote the benefits of carbon offsets to folks like you. Just like a pollution-belching corporation, you too are now able to wreak environmental destruction when you earn a sufficient amount of carbon offset points. If you do something good for the environment, it just makes sense you get to do something bad to it. Or vice versa. Keep the logic circular, is what we say. Spin baby, spin!
Visit us at thecroc.org or on Twitter at @itsacrocC.R.O.C. was created to promote the benefits of carbon offsets to folks like you. Just... more
