GroupD

Enviromental (Greenpeace Organization) History and Background Greenpeace began in 1971 as a small war protest group taking non-violent action against the creation of more nuclear weapons by the United States. Today it has grown to be a large organization dedicated to a greener, more peaceful, and equitable world. They focus mainly on protecting ancient forests, preserving marine life, and fighting to stop global warming. As is well known there are a lot of factors such as large carbon foot prints, off shore drilling, deforestation, and many others that are the reason for this groups protest. Greenpeace’s goal is stated as “to ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity”. Greenpeace evolved from the anti-nuclear protests in Vancouver, British Columbia in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. It was originally called the Don’t Make a Wave Committee, but after September 15, 1971, when they sent a ship renamed the Greenpeace to protest nuclear testing in Alaska, they adopted the name Greenpeace. This anti-nuclear protest first started as an anti-nuclear campaign in Canada, but in the subsequent years it grew globally and encompassed many more environmental problems such as commercial whaling and toxic waste. In 1979, Greenpeace became an international organization legitimately, and allowed every regional office one vote to help decide on the certain causes they were fighting for. On their website, they say their mission statement is “Greenpeace is the leading independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and to promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.” In the beginning, Greenpeace, or the Don’t Make a Wave Committee, was first influenced by the Sierra Club Canada, an environmental organization before Greenpeace. One of the founders of Greenpeace, Irving Stowe, used to be a member of the Sierra Club Canada and brought with them their idea of passive resistance which means they would simply be present at the site of protest. Although they began with passive resistance, their tactics have become a little bit more aggressive. For instance, they actually stole the trunk of an ancient cut down tree and placed it in displays in Austria and Germany. Overall, Greenpeace has evolved from a small threesome of protestors on a boat, to a global organization that has vowed to protect the environment through mostly non-aggressive techniques. Greenpeace utilizes large scale non-violent demonstrations in the areas where most people would never want to go. Whether it’s sitting atop an oil rig in the middle of the ocean, facing off with whaling ships in only an inflatable boat, or perhaps floating through forbidden nuclear test areas, Greenpeace takes some extreme and sensational measures to get their point across. These acts not only alert the government but the media as well which gets the public involved which sways their opinion and causes the government to react. These methods and tactics are well employed by Greenpeace as they are sure not to take any actions that may hurt the image of their organization. They also don’t take government donations or any donations that may jeopardize their independence and goals. Investigations Our investigations are a fundamental part of our campaigns and solutions work. We expose those responsible for an environmental crime, and work with affected communities to identify solutions. Our global nature and our fleet of ships allow us to investigate environmental crimes and impacts wherever they are happening - often in remote places, or out at sea. Investigations often start at the scene of an environmental crime – and then trace the 'chain of destruction' through suppliers and retailers, revealing the links between often remote environmental destruction and powerful players in consumer countries. Taking action Greenpeace was founded in 1971 by a small group of anti-war protesters taking nonviolent direct action against US nuclear weapons testing. Today, taking action is as important as ever to the way we campaign for a greener, more peaceful and equitable world. Guiding all of our actions, always, is our commitment to nonviolence and personal responsibility. Direct action is about physically acting to stop an immediate environmental wrong at the scene of the crime. We act to confront those in positions of power with their responsibility for stopping global environmental abuse, and to raise the level and quality of public debate. Above all, we act to provoke action from those with the power and responsibility to make change happen. Solutions Often, environmental problems – like climate change or forest destruction - are widely acknowledged, but governments, corporations and international bodies all duck or dismiss the solutions. Our solutions work promotes open, informed debate about society's environmental choices, and involves industries, communities and individuals in making change happen. Whether the solutions are political, social or technological, we believe that they should be both environmentally responsible and globally equitable. Core values We have no permanent allies or enemies. We don't solicit or accept funding from governments, corporations or political parties, or donations which could compromise our independence, aims, objectives or integrity. Instead, we rely on the voluntary donations of individual supporters and grant-support from foundations. We take personal responsibility for our actions, and we are committed to nonviolence. These principles are inspired by the Quaker concept of 'bearing witness', which is about taking action based on conscience – personal action based on personal responsibility. This primary source document is the statement of values, core beliefs, and goals taken from the Greenpeace website. It shows them as a neutral group with “no permanent allies or enemies” that is very much for the preservation of the environment. It informs the public of the reasons behind their goals and why we should follow their ideas.

Strengths The strengths of the Greenpeace organization seem to be their creative ways to lobby against things they don’t agree with. Although some agree that it causes controversy, many times Greenpeace has found its way around. It is said that their campaigns are made to create memorable images and involve public interest. The non-violent but direct campaigns have involved things such as going to England and cutting down government-approved genetically modified maize plants and then continuing to place them in decontamination bags. Another radical one would be when the organization surrounded the headquarters of a paper-products company in Canada with police-style yellow tape marked "FOREST CRIME SCENE,". Most interestingly the organization went so far as to form a human chain outside a coal power plant under construction in Thailand to force a review of the government's energy policy. They are also most known for their attacks on the whaling industry. Many reports says the have gone as far as standing in front of the harpoon itself until they got what they wanted. Weakness Greenpeace was originally an organization spawning off of the “Don’t Make a Wave Committee” that was a group of fleeing Canadians who came to America and forcibly blocked American nuclear tests. Greenpeace is known as one of the biggest environment activist group but it also known for its loudly expressed views and odd actions. One of organizations weaknesses or downfall is the fact that it has very controversial tactics to complete what they are trying to accomplish. They have also had some trouble with money. Although it is called a nonprofit organization, that title has been revoked in other countries such as Canada and New Zealand. They are also exempt from U.S taxes. Many other countries have complained that the group’s overly politicized agenda no longer benefits the public. Also many other accounts have pointed out how contradictory the organization really is. Outcomes Has Greenpeace resolved what it was trying to accomplish? Well that is a very broad question to ask considering environmental problems are so recent and because Greenpeace takes on a lot to accomplish. They really take on everything that they can, if it involves the environment then they are a part of it. Here is a list some of the accomplishments and things they have been involved in- World Park in Antarctica Commercial Whaling, Banned A Worldwide Ban on Large-scale Driftnets on the High Seas A Ban on Dumping Radioactive Waste at Sea Protection for Paradise Forests in Indonesia These are only a few things that they have been involved in and have claimed to have accomplished things with all of these protests. Not only are these examples just a small fraction of what they have done they have a section on their website called victories. Pretty self-explanatory in the fact that Greenpeace has had more than several hundred victories. These victories range from Climate & Energy, Toxic, Arctic, Forests and so on. But it seems like there has been some controversy over what a real victory is and what Greenpeace calls a victory. Sometimes a victory for Greenpeace is just brining attention to the cause rather than eliminating it completely. PICTURES:  Above is a picture of the Greenpeace founders on their voyage to Alaska in order to stop underground nuclear testing.  Above is a picture of Phil Radford who is currently the USE Executive Director of Greenpeace.  Above is a picture Kumi Naidoo, the International Executive Director of Greenpeace.