Greenpeace news
Latest news from Greenpeace
Genetically engineered potato? We have a bad peeling about this.
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document.write('Thu, 2 Sep 2010 9:53:00 EDT
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document.write('When the German Minister of Economics and Technology recently endorsed a Genetically Engineered (GE) potato, he said \"no\" to public opinion, \"no\" to the health and safety concerns of scientists, \"no\" to biodiversity, \"no\" to farmers\' livelihoods and \"no\" to German food security. The only things he said \"yes\" to were the demands of the potato\'s owners, the chemical giant BASF.The minister, Rainer Brüderle, participated in a media event on Monday (31st August) organised by BASF to harvest the antiobiotic-resistant potato known as Amflora.77% of the German public is against the cultivation of the Amflora, which BASF has been trying to commercialise for 14 years. But the company finally found two allies in the European Commission, President Barroso and Commissioner Dalli, who were willing to ignore scientific evidence and European legal requirements (along with the majority of European citizens) to give the spurious spud a green light.The BASF potato was altered to include a gene which conveys resistance to antibiotics. And not just any antibiotics, but ones defined by the World Health Organisation as being of \'critical importance:\' vital to fighting tuberculosis and other deadly diseases. Using genes that may affect human health and the environment is not supposed to be permitted under EU law. But let\'s not let a little thing like law stand in the way of corporate profit, shall we?The genetically altered potato, which is intended for use as industrial starch, in animal feed and in fertilisers, will invevitably end up directly on our dinner tables through genetic contamination and leave a bad taste in everybody\'s mouth. The company admits that contamination is inevitable, that\'s the reason they requested and obtained authorisation to contaminate the food chain as well.The good news is that the Hungarian government is challenging the European Commission\'s decision to authorise Amflora in the European Court of Justice.Until this case is heard, we need to act. Avaaz and Greenpeace, under the Lisbon Treaty EU Citizens\' Initiative, are collecting one million signatures calling for a moratorium on GE crops - we\'ve got 700,000 signatures so far.This year Amfora is being cultivated in 3 countries -- Germany, Sweden and the Czech Republic - to create more seeds for wider cultivation.If we act now we can prevent the further cultivation, and let BASF know that we\'re saying \"no\" to this \"Darth Tater\". Sign the petition, and may the forks be with you. (Photo © Doerthe Hagenguth/Greenpeace)');
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Greenpeace Activists End Arctic Oil Rig Occupation
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document.write('Thu, 2 Sep 2010 7:25:00 EDT
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document.write('Severe weather has forced activists to end their occupation of the Stena Don oil rig in the Arctic last night: after two days of hanging some 15 meters above the frigid Arctic waters and forcing the rigs operators, Cairn Energy, to suspend drilling, the activists are now safe and under arrest.');
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Facebook responds to Greenpeace demands
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document.write('Thu, 2 Sep 2010 9:19:00 EDT
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document.write('Yesterday, Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Daidoo wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg about the social network\'s coal use. The full letter was posted on this blog, and in the blog\'s comments section a Facebook representative wrote an interesting response. Here is Greenpeace policy analyst Gary Cook\'s reply:Dear Barry:Thanks for your response.We appreciate your recognition that Facebook has a coal problem with its Oregon data center. However, where we disagree is your claim to be powerless to do anything about it as, like Greenpeace and others, Facebook simply has to buy whatever electricity is available. This is not the case for Greenpeace, and is certainly not the case for Facebook, who is an industrial scale consumer of electricity.As evidenced by the 500,000 users who have asked Facebook to get off of coal, we expect and demand more leadership from such an innovative company that is a playing an important role in bringing the world together.Facebook is buying electricity in bulk to meet the needs of 500 million+ users, and is becoming a very influential company both inside and outside the IT sector. The expected power consumption of the Oregon data center alone gives Facebook the purchasing power of 30,000-40,000 homes, which gives you the ability and standing to shape how power is generated in Oregon and far beyond.As we have seen with other environmental challenges, motivated companies with big purchasing power can make a powerful difference in driving environmental solutions and policy change. Greenpeace’s recent campaign targeting Nestlé (using Facebook no less) over their purchase of palm oil that is destroying the rainforest in Indonesia led the company to change its procurement policy, and has now led Burger King to announce yesterday that they will no longer buy palm oil from this supplier. This is sending a powerful signal both to the marketplace and to the policy makers in Indonesia and well beyond.Facebook must take responsibility for the significant impact its investment decisions on the location of its own datacenters and the source of electricity that is supplying both its own and those facilities it is renting can have. Efficiency is certainly important, but is only the beginning of taking responsibility for your rapidly growing energy and environmental footprint.Google, Yahoo and others in the IT sector already understand that while efficiency is important, it is not the whole story. Given the rapid growth in the IT sector, they recognize the source of electricity is also an increasingly important consideration, that they have a responsibility and an important role to play, and are significantly increasing the amount of renewable electricity they are purchasing.Ultimately, we need Facebook to work with Greenpeace and others in Oregon and elsewhere to push for the policy changes that will rapidly move us off of coal and toward renewable sources of energy.The world’s top climate scientists tell us that we have as little as 5 years to stabilize global warming pollution globally, which means that we must move off of coal as rapidly as possible. As was highlighted in Greenpeace’s Make IT Green Report, at current growth rates, data centers and telecommunication networks that make up the cloud will consume more than the current electricity consumption of France, Germany, Canada and Brazil combined by 2020. Given this projected growth of energy use, it is essential that Facebook and others in the IT sector show leadership in driving a transformation in our production and use of electricity.As was recently shown in Portugal, whose electricity grid recently underwent a transformation from 15% to 45% renewable sources in the span of five years, a rapid increase in clean energy is not only possible, it is good for the local economy. The IT sector itself has identified it has an important role in this transformation, estimating its ability to reduce energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions globally 15% by 2020, and Greenpeace is challenging the sector to use their innovation and influence to overcome the opposition of powerful utilities like Pacific Corp and the fossil fuel industry who are slowing this transition down, if not blocking it outright. We need Facebook to stand with us and others to make this transition happen, and happen soon.We look forward to working with Facebook to help it and the rest of the world off of coal and to more renewables sources of energy as rapidly as possible.');
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Nuclear News: U.S. urges China to play greater role in pressuring N. Korea for 6-way talks
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document.write('Thu, 2 Sep 2010 7:50:00 EDT
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document.write('U.S. urges China to play greater role in pressuring N. Korea for 6-way talks: State Dept.‘WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- The United States Wednesday called on China to exert more influence in urging North Korea to foster the atmosphere to resume six-party talks on its denuclearization. \"China has a special and leading role to play in trying to push North Korea to be a more constructive player in this process,\" State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. \"China has a special responsibility. It has been a leader within the six-party process. We will look to China to demonstrate leadership going forward. China has had recent high-level meetings with the North Koreans.\" Crowley was referring to last week\'s meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Chinese President Hu Jintao, the second in three months. Kim reportedly made the surprise trip to northeastern China to pave the way for a smooth power transition to his youngest son. The North leader\'s heir apparent, Jong-un, 27, is believed to have accompanied his father to China. Beijing officials neither confirmed nor denied Jong-un made the trip, just saying he was not on the list of official delegates. During the meeting, Kim Jong-il reiterated his denuclearization pledge and called for early resumption of the six-party talks, according to Chinese state-run media. Emerging from a meeting with Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, Chinese chief nuclear envoy Wu Dawei told reporters, \"Six-party talks are an important way to maintain peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula.\"’iStockAnalyst: China formulating Administrative Regulations for Nuclear Power Industry‘BEIJING, Sep. 2, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) -- China is formulating Administrative Regulations for Nuclear Power Industry, and likely to submit it to the State Council for approval before the end of 2010, disclosed a source from the National Energy Administration. The Regulations will focus on the construction planning of nuclear power stations, obligations of nuclear power developers, supervision of nuclear power stations and so on. The threshold for nuclear power industry would not be lowered down in short term, noted the source.’China Knowledge: CNNC, China-Africa Dev\'t Fund to develop uranium in Africa‘Sep. 2, 2010 (China Knowledge) - China National Nuclear Corp, the nation\'s largest nuclear power plant builder, yesterday said that its subsidiary China Uranium Crop has singed an agreement with China-Africa Development Fund to jointly develop uranium resources in Africa, sources reported. In a statement posted on its website, CNNC said that both parties will set up a joint venture in Beijing to invest in and develop uranium resources in Africa. The agreement is part of CNNC\'s efforts to secure raw materials for nuclear reactors. Reportedly, China is stepping out efforts to develop the substitutes of carbon-based fuel and it plans to build more nuclear reactors in the country. A CNNC executive had said later last year that the company was involved in six uranium mines in Jordan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Algeria. CNNC is parent of Hong Kong-listed CNNC International Ltd.’The Japan Times: Rokkasho plant faces two-year delay‘AOMORI (Kyodo) Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. is making arrangements to postpone by roughly two years the completion of a spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, due to a series of troubles during test operations, sources said Wednesday. The plant, designed to extract uranium and plutonium from the nuclear fuel spent at power plants in the country, has been in the stage of what the operator calls the Final Commissioning Test and its construction is currently expected to be completed in October.’ Financial Times: Rosatom launches global charm offensive‘Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned atomic power corporation, has launched an international charm offensive as the country’s most secretive and controversial industry attempts to come in from the cold. In a rare meeting with foreign media last week, Sergei Kiriyenko, a former Russian prime minister and now president of Rosatom, outlined plans for the company to become a leading international player as nuclear power enjoys a surge in demand. “We want to double in size,” he told reporters in Toronto. Like the Gazprom and Russian Railways monopolies, Rosatom is a former ministry, converted into a state corporation in 2007. If the Kremlin achieves its ambitions, Rosatom could become to global nuclear power what Gazprom is to the natural gas industry. But as it looks outwards, Rosatom is burdened by the forbidding legacy of its Soviet past, including the catastrophic Chernobyl accident that cast a pall on the nuclear power industry for 20 years. More recently, Rosatom’s partnership with Iran at the Bushehr nuclear power plant has also provoked US antagonism. Mr Kiriyenko admitted that Russia’s reputation in nuclear power was “not the best”, and described steps taken to improve transparency, including the separation of civil and military aspects of the business and a new law allowing foreign investment.’');
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UPDATE: Greenpeace Activists arrested
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document.write('Thu, 2 Sep 2010 6:15:00 EDT
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document.write('From Ben onboard the Esperanza in the Arctic...Well that was dramatic. Yesterday afternoon the seas started churning and our huge banner on the oil rig was twisting and flapping as a gale blew up. I spoke to the four activists under the rig and they assured me they were fine. They had self-heating meals and water and were still doing interviews, telling the world about Cairn Energy’s plans to spark an Arctic oil rush.I kept eyeing the scene through the porthole in my cabin with concern. The swell was heaving and the lips of the waves were breaking white across the stretch of sea separating the Esperanza from the rig. The weather forecast on the screen on the bridge looked ominous – lots of grim symbols over the coast west of Greenland – while a quick duck outside had my eyes watering with the cold.Ending the occupation of the Stena Don was a big call for us. We’d stopped it drilling for oil here, while the other rig being operated by Cairn was also closed down due to our actions. Think about that – because of the millions of supporters who let us operate our ships, four ordinary blokes from four different countries were able to come up here and put their bodies in the way of the Arctic oil rush, and they stopped it.They didn’t just protest about it – they actually stopped it. The drills stopped turning.But now a freezing gale has stopped us. Anybody who saw the images of our camp under the rig will appreciate how harsh the conditions were last night for the guys. When I radioed them and talked about the need to come down they were disappointed the direct action was about to end, but stunningly professional. Straight away they were working out how to get safely on to the platform gantry, where police were waiting for them (our guys obsess about safety, it’s a thing to behold, and is at odds with the image our opponents like to paint).So they’re in police custody now. But before it was over I spoke to Sim McKenna from the United States. He’s been a star these past three weeks since we left London, and as ever he found the words at the right time, despite hanging under an oil rig over freezing seas as a storm rolled in. “We stopped this rig drilling for oil for two days, but in the end the Arctic weather beat us. Last night was freezing and now the sea below us is churning and the wind is roaring. It’s time to come down, but we’re proud we slowed the mad rush for Arctic oil, if only for a couple of days.”“This beautiful fragile arctic environment would be decimated by an oil spill. The melting Arctic ice is a grim reminder that we need to stop burning oil and invest instead in clean energy solutions.”“I’m not sure what will happen to us now, but as soon as we can we’ll be back to call for the world to finally go beyond oil. It is time for people everywhere to take a stand, to call on their governments to fight climate change, ban dangerous deep sea drilling and invest in clean energy solutions that will protect the world’s fragile environments from cowboy oil companies like Cairn Energy.”');
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