Greenpeace Activist News, Vol. 3, No. 4
In this action packed issue, nuclear playing cards, a war update, attack of the speech bubbles, threats to African
forests and beaches, a blubber victory, GE wheat in Canada, dirty oil in Australia, and ... have you cast your Webby
vote for Greenpeace yet?
SUITS AND NUKES
Nuclear weapons and the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) are the topic being discussed this week by world
governments meeting in Geneva. While much media attention has focussed recently on whether Iraq did or did not possess
weapons of mass destruction, it is clear that the major possessors of these weapons, namely the US, Russia, the UK,
France, China, Israel, Pakistan and India, have not made enough progress in eliminating them. When the NPT was agreed in
1968, there were approximately 38,000 nuclear weapons in the world. Today, there are still approximately 30,000.
After Greenpeace created a pack of playing cards showing the major leaders behind the global stockpiles of nuclear
weapons and distributed decks in Geneva, the media and public response was overwhelming.
You can read more about the NPT and the playing cards here:
Check out the nuclear solitare game in the box on the right (requires the latest version of Flash).
We may do a second larger printing of these playing cards. If you would like to register to express your interest in
getting one (or more) decks, you can do it here:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNITING FOR PEACE
Your overwhelming and record breaking response to the Uniting for Peace initiative during the war in Iraq had a great
influence. Our lobbyists at the UN received lots of positive feedback from Ambassadors about the quantity of public
support the initiative had, and although the Arab League DID in fact put in a call for a special General Assembly
meeting on the war in the first week of April, events in Baghdad overtook the initiative, and it was withdrawn.
However, the struggle over this issue continues. The UN Security Council continues to wrangle over the role of
inspectors, the transition in Iraq, the lifting of sanctions, the question of weapons of mass destruction, and the fear
of who the Bush administration will target next. The call by the public, politicians and governments to uphold the UN
Charter and the rule of law, and to oppose US unilateralism and the Bush doctrine continues. There is now an on-line
petition supporting the principles that we continue to push for at the UN. Please sign today at:
and add your voice to those who don't want to see another 'preventive war'!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ATTACK OF THE SPEECH BUBBLES
More than 1100 people have uploaded a speech bubble image attacking Esso/Exxon/Mobil for undermining action against
global warming and climate change. You can visit the image gallery and upload your own image from:
http://www.stopesso.org
While you are there, you may also want to visit one of the many national Don't Buy Esso/Exxon/Mobil sites by using the
drop down box at the top.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HELP BLOCK BLOODY TIMBER
The Liberian timber industry has been supporting arms trafficking and regional conflict through financial and logistical
support since the diamond export ban. Because of overwhelming evidence, the United Nations Security Council has agreed
to an export ban on Liberian timber to put an end to the active and violent destabilisation implemented by the Liberian
government in the region. This ban does not come into effect until July and in the meantime this blood stained timber is
flooding into markets.
Take action to support our efforts to stop the import of Liberian timber and urge German timber company Offermann to
cancel all existing contracts for Liberian timber immediately:
And get ready for many more forest actions to come!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ STOP SHIPBREAKING IN GUINEA BISSAU
The beautiful Bolama beach in the West African country of Guinea Bissau may soon turn into a scrapyard for old toxic
ships, threatening nature and the lives of local people. The beach is part of the Bijagos Archipelagos, classified as a
Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations (Unesco). Help to save the Bolama beach! Let the United Nations know they should
protect the nature and people of Guinea Bissau. You can also send a beautiful e-card to tell your friends about this
cyberaction.
Help Greenpeace spot toxic ships destined for scrapping
Are you connected to the shipping industry, a ship spotter, a harbourmaster, a crew member or in any other way able to
localize the positions of ships that are destined for shipbreaking beaches? We need your help! Please visit the
Greenpeace shipbreaking website:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BLUBBER VICTORY
Over the past two years, more than 30 thousand cyberactivists wrote to the Norwegian prime minister asking him to stop
plans to export whale blubber to Japan and other countries. We now have a victory!
Here's the update from our whale campaign:
A committee of Norwegian scientists has formally recognised the high levels of toxic compounds in whale blubber produced
by Norway hunt and recommended that human consumption of whale blubber be banned in Norway. Their tests showed that one
gram of minke blubber had about 95 picograms of PCB-related pollutants, almost a tenth of the maximum weekly intake
under European Union guidelines. PCBs build up in fatty tissues and have been linked to birth defects.
The recommendation to ban consumption of blubber in Norway ends the possiblity of export to Japan. This is a real blow
to the Norwegian whaling industry whose expansion has been driven by hopes of increased profits through export.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HELP STOP MONSANTO GE WHEAT
Wheat is the single biggest food source in the world -- and the oldest. Canada and the US sell one fifth of the world's
wheat -- second only to China. Now Monsanto is asking for permission to sell genetically engineered wheat in North
America.
Take action today by signing this petition urging the Canadian government to ban GE wheat:
For more information, watch "Slice of Life", a 9-minute video documenting just how much is at stake, for our food supply
and for our farmers. You can see the video on-line here:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HELP STOP DIRTY AUSTRALIAN OIL
At the end of April an obscure US private energy investment fund, Sandefer Capital Partners, agreed to invest A$52
million in Australian shale oil company Southern Pacific Petroleum (SPP).
See
for more information.
Sandefer's investment is crucial for SPP. Sandefer has said it will also consider arranging the A$600 million needed to
expand the pilot plant to commercial scale.
Please email Sandefer's President and call on him to withdraw Sandefer's investment in SPP and dirty shale oil.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HELP GREENPEACE WIN A WEBBY
Have you done your part to make sure we win a webby? You've been meaning to do it, but you just haven't had the time,
right? Well take a moment now!
We're currently the front runners, but only by a slim margin, and voting closes very soon. If you've enjoyed being a
part of victories such as our successful cyberaction protecting the ancient Finnish forest from logging this year, or
our on-going work against destructive corporations such as Dow, ExxonMobil or Monsanto, and want more people to join us
in online activism in the future, vote for Greenpeace. It's a vote for online communities like ours, and the future of
activism on the web. Follow the link below, pick up a password in your mailbox, and vote!