I am on Greenpeace’s mailing list, and sometimes they send me these big update emails…this one stood out from the others (Greenpeace does some silly things sometimes, but overall they try really hard and I like them). It is also pretty cool that the campaign we did our part in to stop the rainforest destruction in order to produce palm oil seems to be having some good outcomes. I will wait and see what Unilever does but it’s good that they at least appear to be acting.
Email below.
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Polar bears have had it rough in recent years, and global warming is only making the situation worse. That’s why we joined the Center for Biological Diversity and NRDC to sue the Bush Administration and seek Endangered Species status for the polar bear. Well, after months of delaying an announcement, just long enough to sell off oil leases in polar bear habitat, the Bush Administration has finally been ordered by a judge to make a final decision by May 15th.
Polar bears are in real danger of becoming the first mammal to become extinct as a direct result of global warming. Last year, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) predicted that the world’s polar bear population was likely to diminish by as much as two-thirds by 2050 – including every single polar bear within the United States. In fact, scientists predict that the Arctic could be completely ice-free in the summers as early as 2012. Listing the polar bear under the ESA would require that polar bears be protected. The only way to do that is to protect their Arctic ice habitat, which means reducing the pollution that causes global warming.
This ruling is great news for the polar bear and an important step toward protecting the entire Arctic ecosystem from the impacts of global warming.
I’ll be sure to keep you posted once the decision is official.
I’ll be in touch with you soon,
Melanie Duchin
Global Warming Campaigner, Alaska
p.s. Get the full scoop on Bush’s delays to protect the polar bear on our web site.
Just five days after Greenpeace launched a new campaign against Unilever, which makes Dove beauty products, the company announced plans to support Greenpeace’s call for a moratorium on rainforest destruction in Indonesia. This is fantastic news for the highly endangered orangutan, whose forest home has been destroyed at an alarming rate, in large part due to the production of palm oil (a key ingredient in many of Unilever food and cosmetic products).
We launched the campaign with a series of actions across Europe, issuing a report documenting Unilever’s harmful practices and sending Greenpeace activists dressed as orangutans to Unilever’s headquarters to hang a banner and draw attention to the company’s “monkey business.”
Why Unilever? Unilever is one of the largest users of palm oil in the world. This means Unilever has a huge influence on the way palm oil is made.
In addition to the serious threat to orangutans, Sumatran tigers, and Javan rhinoceroses, destruction of the Indonesian rainforest is also a major contributor to global warming. As the carbon from trees and several feet of underlying peatland is released into the atmosphere, huge volumes of greenhouse gases are accelerating climate change. Indonesia is the third largest emitter of these gases in the world, due to the destruction of its forests at the hands of the palm oil industry.
Unilever’s announcement could lead to a win-win for orangutans and the climate. A moratorium would buy time for Greenpeace to push for long-term protections for Indonesia’s threatened rainforests.
Sincerely,
Scott Paul
Forest Campaigner
We all know that global warming is a serious problem, but we don’t all agree on the solutions. Some solutions are proven – like wind and solar energy. Others are more like pipe dreams or schemes that can actually increase global warming. That’s the case with an idea called carbon capture and storage, which theoretically would capture carbon dioxide emitted from coal power plants and store it underground.
Carbon capture and storage is unproven, unlike renewable energy alternatives. In fact, the coal industry has latched onto the idea as an excuse to continue polluting and building new power plants that will add to, rather than solve, the global warming crisis. The industry is working hard on Capitol Hill to secure billions of dollars in subsidies for this dangerous technology. Instead, lawmakers should support technologies like wind and solar that can begin to reduce global warming pollution today, not on false hopes that may never deliver.
TAKE ACTION — Tell Congress: Pull the plug on false solutions and invest in real alternatives now.
The truth behind carbon capture and storage is that even if it worked, the technology wouldn’t be available until 2030 – despite calls from scientists worldwide that global warming must be addressed within the next 10 years if we hope to minimize its impacts.
That’s why Greenpeace activists showed up today at a government -sponsored conference on Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technology in Pennsylvania with 1,200 black balloons carrying the message, “Coal is Dirty.” We also released a new report called “False Hope: Why Carbon Capture and Storage Won’t Save the Climate,” calling on the government to invest in proven technologies like wind and solar and efficiency that will begin to reduce global warming pollution today.
The time to act is now, and the technologies to stop global warming already exist. The coal industry should go the way of the dinosaur – the era of renewable energy has arrived.
Sincerely,
Kate Smolski
Global Warming Campaigner
p.s. Want to know more about this? Get the full story online and read the report.