Greenpeace/Signed Articles/Eduzendium
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| Greenpeace Organization | |
|---|---|
| Website | www.greenpeace.org |
| Ownership type | Not for profit, non-governmental organization |
| Founded | 1971, by Environmental activists |
| Headquarters | 702 H Street, NW Washington , D.C. United States |
| Industry | Campaigning for environmental protection |
Greenpeace International is an activist environmental interest group[1] with offices in over 40 countries and headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands.[2]
History
There is no one founder to the Greenpeace organization. A small group of activists came together in 1971 to help create Greenpeace. Not knowing that they would become known as the founders of the Greenpeace organization, these activists set out on a mission to protest U.S. nuclear testing on Amchitka Island, off the coast of Alaska, including the largest underground test in U.S. history, the W71 warhead for ballistic missile defense.
Current objectives and activities
The Greenpeace organization is one that prides itself on a healthy and safe environment. From a political aspect, there is a lack of recognition, which enables this organization to have the resources needed to get the message out. Since it is not a threat that the government feels is priority, people tend not to pay as much attention to the real threats of our planet and the past, present and future effects it will have in our lives. Although the government is not as involved as they should be, there have been recent efforts to bring awareness to global destuction.
Carbon emissions
The House has recently passed a bill called the "Cap and Trade" bill, which is set in place to cut carbon emissions and also increase the use of renewable energies. Greenpeace is a involved and supports this bill.
"Cap and Trade" brings awareness to one of the greatest challenges of our time, climate control. The threat of climate disruption stems from a simple fact, which is that we treat our atmosphere as a free dumping ground for pollutants, and nuclear waste. And as a result,there has been increasing concentrations of climate warming gases, an overloading of carbon in the atmosphere, along with other maladies of our energy system such as oil addition and the volatile prices that come with it.
A 'cap' is a legal limit on the quantity of greenhouse gases our economy can emit each year.
A 'trade' means that, by law, companies may swap among themselves the permission to emit greenhouse gases.
The cap-and-trade system is a test and proven system, that worked cheaply and efficiently to reduce acid rain pollution in the United States in the 1990s. It is cost effective, economically sound and it is a prudent, long-term investment that will not only benefit the earth now, but in the future as well as we cap and trade slowly and responsibly.
Other U.S. legislation
Along with the "Cap and Trade" bill, Greenpeace also supports U.S. legislation such as the the Kerry, Boxer Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, which senator John Kerry, Chairman for the Foreign Relations Committee, and Barbara Boxer, Chairman of the Environment and Public Works, introduced to create clean energy jobs, reduce pollution, and protect American security by enhancing domestic energy production and combating global climate change.
Achievements
There have been many accomplishment made by Greenpeace since its founding 1971. Some of their most recent achievements include: Not as unreferenced news releases!
Congress announces ban on toxic chemicals
July 30, 2008
In this article, Greenpeace is excited about their victory for the children of the United States when Congress bans certain chemicals from being used when producing toys. Now this was a major accomplishment that did not only effect Greenpeace, but mothers like myself that have small children and who are always concerned about their safety. Over 8,000 Greenpeace activists took action and wrote their members of Congress on this issue in ensuring a victorious achievement to the organization. President Bush signed into law national product-safety legislation that will ban toxic chemicals like phthalates from major toy producers in the U.S. Because children suck and chew on these toys, phthalates are easily released from vinyl products like water form a sponge, causing a variety of health hazards ranging from deformation of reproductive organs to damage to kidneys. These victories are the less of many victories of Greenpeace. This organization has progressed and accomplished many goals since there founding in 1971.
Major supermarkets pull unsustainable seafood
July 30, 2008
Victory for oceans! Stop and Shop and Giant Food are going to stop selling shark, orange roughy and Chilean sea bass until their populations bounce back from overfishing. Just a few months before this decision, Greenpeace released a supermarket ranking reports on 20 of the top U.S. supermarket retailers to improve their seafood purchasing practices and stop selling destructively and overfished seafood. A lot of times.
Reports: Japanese government gives in, slashes whale quotas
November 2008
In this article, Greenpeace challenges whaling in the Southern Ocean. In victory, Japan's biggest newspaper report there will be a 20% reduction in the number of whales targeted in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary hunt this year. This is the first reduction since 1987, more that 21 years ago. In the report, it speaks about the lack of demand for whale meat. Later in the article it speaks on the 4,629 tons of unsold whale meat. Taxpayers money are going toward whale hunting. It cost to kill whale, and many of these taxpayers are unaware of this. In the reports, it shows that fewer and fewer Japanese are eating whale. So many whale are caught in overfishing for petty competition.
New Kimberly-Clark policy is a victory for ancient forest
August 05, 2009
Greenpeace was among countless activists that asked Kimberly-Clark to help save the Boreal forest since 2004, when the Kleenex, Scott, and Cottonelle announced a new policy that places it among the industy leaders in sustainability, bringing the Kleercut campaign to a successful completion. The target is to use responsible sources such as recycled fibers or Forest Stewardship Council--the policy ensures that they will eliminate any fiber that is not (FSC) certified. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Public perception and controversies
Greenpeace is a very well respected organization. But, just like any other environmental organizations, they have those who support many of there viewpoints and those who oppose them. Along with any issue that will affect other people, someone will always find a way to justify there actions to make themselves look better. Some of these people include corporate businesses that Greenpeace activist expose and controversial issues such as global warming, in which most people have an opposing viewpoint about.
References
Works Cited:
Ausubel, Kenny. “What is the Extent of Environmental Problems?” Conserving the Environment. Ed. Douglas Dupler. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press, 2006. 21-35. Print.
Brown, Lester. “Is There an Environmental Crisis.” The Environment. Ed. Laura K. Egendorf. New Haven: Greenhaven Press, 2005. 18-53. Print.
“Greenpeace Organization.” Greenpeace. N.p., Oct. 2009. Web. 4 Dec. 2009. <http://www.greenpeace.org>.
Kaufman, Leslie. “Disillusioned Environmentalists Turn on Obama as Compromiser.” New York Times [New York] 11 July 2009: 1-2. PDF file.
US EPA. “Cap and Trade.” Environmental Protection Agency. N.p., Nov. 2009. Web. 3 Dec. 2009.