Greenpeace

Being an intern for Greenpeace is unlike anything I was expecting. I had only done one internship previously and I had been stuck in a stuffy cubicle and talked to someone maybe once a day; more or less the opposite of my experience here.

Back at college I was an environmental engineering major. I hated the school, I hated the major, I hated being in the middle of nowhere; basically I was miserable. Transferring was my only option, but unfortunately I had missed the due date to apply for the spring semester. Knowing this, I still knew I had to get out of there.

Almost immediately I had an Internet browser up and was frantically scouring the web for an environmental internship. Then I found it, my own personal Holy Grail, Greenpeace’s internship website. One application, two interviews, and a multitude of emails later…it was goodbye college and hello non-violent direct action!

The moment I stepped into the D.C Chinatown office I knew I would love it here. The walls were painted cheery colors and everyone had permanently cheery smiles on their faces. A group of us were shown around and introduced during intern orientation, but after that we were just of kind of thrown into things. Here you are not “baby-ed” or given busy work; whatever, you end up doing is viewed as important and useful. Being here, I actually feel as if I am accomplishing something. Greenpeace, as an organization, relies on individuals to give our Earth a voice; and it sounds dorky but I actually feel as if I am making a difference.

I work on the web-team in the communications department. My frequent tasks including writing up blogs (usually on whatever environmental issue I personally find interesting), updating the website, writing articles, and tweeting. I never knew my social networking addiction could translate into an internship and help raise environmental awareness; it’s actually pretty awesome!

That is the wonderful thing about working here at Greenpeace; you can always find something you’re interested in. There are so many different positions and opportunities available that it seems like it would be pretty hard to not find an opportunity that you’ll fall in love with like I did. Everyday my list of new assignments is followed by, “is there anything you want to do? I want you to get what you want out of this internship”. This really has been the opportunity of a lifetime and I encourage all of those who have a passion for protecting the planet to apply. Get into the spirit of non-violent direct action today!

 

Apply today for the summer and fall 2010 semesters!

There’s just no way we can prepare for a chemical disaster. It’s unnerving to say, but airborne chemicals travel faster than we could run or drive out of harms way. That’s why we have to focus on preventing these chemical disasters from occuring in the first place! Let’s tighten up security and keep everyone safe.

I was astounded to find out that a third of Americans are at risk. The Department of Homeland Security has identified over 5,800 “high-risk” chemical plants. An accident or an attack on just 300 of them would put 110 million Americans at risk. There is a good possibility that you are at risk of exposure if an accident were to occur.

 But, what kinds of chemicals are being produced at these plants that are risky? I did some digging and found out that chlorine gas is one of the most dangerous chemicals that environmentalists and legislators are trying to protect us from.

Chlorine is used in the production of thousands of products, from household cleaning supplies, to the disinfecting of water; making it one of the top ten most produced chemicals in the United States. It is a naturally occuring chemical element, one of 100 others that make up basic building blocks of matter. Chlorine’s popular disinfectant properties stem from its unstable manner. It easily bonds with other chemicals to destroy various bacteria (most commonly found in nature as already bonded).

However, when isolated Chlorine becomes incredibly dangerous. At room temperature elemental Chlorine is a yellowish-green gas with a pungent odor similar to that of bleach. For shipment and storage, the gas is usually pressurized and cooled to form an amber liquid. If the chemical were to leak, it would quickly turn into a gas and spread rapidly.

Chlorine is incredibly dangerous, unstable and can react with a variety of other chemicals when released into the environment. An accidental leak or spill can pose serious health risks to those exposed. Low levels of exposure can lead to eye, nose, and throat irritation. However, breathing in high levels of airborne chlorine can lead to fluid build up in the lungs, formally known as Pulmonary Edema. This build up can cause shortness of breath and lead to respiratory failure. If not treated this condition can be fatal. 63 of the 101 most dangerous “high-risk” facilities are chlorine gas plants.

But, on the bright side of all this Clorox recently announced that they would move away from extremely hazardous chlorine gas and start using liquid bleach to add extra layers of security.

This highlights the exciting news that safer alternatives are out there! But, unless Congress passes legislation, not everyone will follow the new safety standards. That’s why we’re doing everything we can to push Congress in the right direction. The House of Representatives passed a comprehensive chemical security bill last year. Whoo hooo! Now, it’s the Senate’s turn. And, the timing couldn’t be more urgent. Please help us get the word out.

Take Action. We need to make sure that the bill coming out of the Senate is just as strong as the one that the House passed. That’s where we need your help! Start a picket! Riot in the streets! Well…maybe those aren’t such good ideas. A simple phone call or letter to your Senators can go a long way. You can make a difference.

Check out this blog from Olly Knowles, I thought you'd all enjoy reading about his work. He's an oceans campaigner with Greenpeace and is currently in Doha, Qatar, following the CITES
meeting that could save or fail Atlantic Bluefin Tuna.

CITES COP 15 is now properly up and running and it’s a veritable quagmire of lobby and counter-lobby, I can tell you. The big issue on the table is of course bluefin tuna – and not just for Greenpeace. It’s a key item for the CITES secretariat as well which means it's very high profile. Most of the other NGOs here are also working very hard on the issue – all of this combined is making bluefin a big media story, not least in the national Qatari press, which is useful because delegates are getting free copies every morning.

It won’t surprise you to hear that the Japanese are here in large numbers and are lobbying aggressively against an Appendix I listing for Atlantic bluefin tuna. Their current strategy is to scare developing nation delegates (especially the West Africans at the moment) with stories of displaced European fleets heading South to raid their waters because they can no longer fish for tuna. It’s nonsense of course – most of the vessels involved in fishing in the Med for instance are nowhere near capable of Atlantic ocean-going fishing or equipped for it – but we are encountering many African delegates who are believing the story. So our efforts, and the efforts of our NGO colleagues, are very much directed at countering this argument at the moment. But it’s not easy – between the official country delegation for Japan, the many Japanese fishing organizations and trade associations that are also here, the Japanese delegation is much larger than usual, way above their usual CITES average. They mean business.

We’ve had some good media on the ground here. Bluefin tuna was a lead article on the front page of the Qatari Gulf Times on the opening day. I’ve also done a head to head on Al Jazeera with a member of the Japanese delegation which went very well for us. I put forward how silly the Japanese position is – if they want to keep eating the stuff, why on earth wouldn’t they support a temporary trade ban to protect it for the long-term. He had difficulty answering.

Other news, the proposed European compromise is obviously a big talking point. The CITES Secretariat has initiated a legal review of the European position which is due to report back in a day or two. It will be interesting to see how this impacts.

You can read more updates from CITES at Charles Clover's blog.

 

Polar bears are so deceptive. All along they have been the ones behind global warming and concocting radical schemes to get themselves on the endangered list. They have been polluting Alaskan waters and destroying their own habitats for decades just to prove a point. They want the fame and the fortune that goes hand in hand with being endangered. Polar bears are out to ruin Alaska’s economy, how conniving of them.

Wait, what’s wrong with this picture?

About a fifth of the world’s diminishing polar bear population resides in Alaska. Recently, polar bears have been added to the endangered species list. How outrageous! Those polar bears should be ashamed of themselves! Of course, Alaskan law makers must remedy the bear’s meddling antics by spending millions of dollars to try and have the decision reversed. Those darn bears are purposely ruining their economy!

Polar bears are one of the largest bears on earth whose only predator is man. Global warming and oil spills are the largest threats currently effecting polar bears. Global warming diminishes habitats and when oil sticks to their fur, they cannot regulate their body temperature and if they ingest it while grooming it causes death. Hmm, isn’t Alaska’s main source of state revenue supplied by the oil industry? So, by protecting the polar bears and their natural habitat, it could effect the pipelines? Well, we simply cannot have that. The bears must go!

Or…Alaska’s economy could maintain their fishing and mining economy, which held them for so many centuries. But, why settle when you can kill off a majestic arctic animal that cannot help where it lives or how it is effected? Alaskan lawmakers are trying to put together a campaign to get the bears off the endangered list and into their graves. If polar bears aren’t protected now, what will happen? Despite what these politicians say, the animals are decreasing; their population is not stable. Polar bears cannot just pack up their suitcases and head off to the Caribbean for a nice vacation when things get tough up in the Arctic.

Alaskan legislatures are getting antsy. For years environmentalists have petitioned for more Alaskan animals to be listed and for offshore petroleum exploration be stopped. And now that they have finally gotten their way, lawmakers are not happy (to put it nicely). "The application for this listing is based on the unfounded, unproven scientific hypothesis that climate change is caused by human activity, in the form of increased release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere," said Harris, who was House speaker. Global warming is simply a glitch? It’s not actually happening? Wake up Alaska, global warming is real, and it’s headed strait for the arctic.

Polar bears did not do this to themselves, nor were they scheming to ruin Alaska’s economy. They are just one of the thousands of helpless species subjected to pollution and global warming. They finally caught a break, so please don’t ruin it for them.

 

 

Scary movies are not my thing; never have been, and never will be. I prefer the cheesy romantic movies where you can always count on a happy ending. Which is why I used my weekend to sit through yet another terribly predictable chick flick. I can tolerate those campy scary movies dating from the early ‘90’s because they’re so ridiculous and unrealistic, but it’s the scary movies that make you think, that could happen to me, that I simply cannot watch. But, I guess that’s probably what makes people like them.

A prime example is the new box office hit, The Crazies. People flocked to theaters to endure an hour and forty minutes of chills and thrills, making it third at the box office! The unsettling images portrayed in the movie linger in the minds of viewers long after the credits roll. But why? Because, in all great fiction, lie traces of the truth. What movie-goers don’t realize is that in the case of The Crazies, there is much more than just a trace of the truth hidden beneath the blood and gore, and that’s what makes it so enthralling.

The thriller features a quaint and happy town in Iowa that transforms overnight into a bloodthirsty asylum due to the leak of the fictitious bio-warfare agent, Trixie. One by one the town’s citizens succumb to the toxin and their descent into a violent madness is enough to make you jump out of your seat. Lucky for us, the movie is simply that, a movie. Unluckily for us, the threat that the movie depicts is not just a movie.

The Department of Homeland Security has identified over 6,000 “high risk” chemical plants in the U.S. If an accident or an attack occurred at just 5% of them, 110 million Americans would be put at risk. But wait! All hope is not lost! (Phew). Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11 more than 200 chemical facilities have converted to safer chemical processes, eliminating poison gas risks to more than 30 million Americans. But, there are still those stubborn chemical plants that refuse to convert til the law says they have to. But it’s inexpensive to convert to safer alternatives, creates jobs, and it…SAVES LIVES! What’s the holdup?!

Greenpeace identified 169 industry lobbyists assigned to keep Congress from passing a strong chemical security law. Do these people really have nothing better to do than make sure chemical plants remain unsafe? It’s likely that these lobbyists are actually part of the statistic put at risk from the plants they’re defending.

I wish I could pretend these risks weren’t real and I could grab a bag of popcorn, watch yet another romance blossom on screen, and remain oblivious. But, the risks are real and real people are in danger, not just those starring in The Crazies. A person can choose to remain unaware to the problems associated with chemical plants, but that does not mean that these problems will cease to exist. So, I guess if you’re going to learn about the dangers of the industry, you might as well buy yourself a ticket, and enjoy the tense, terrifying, and surprisingly informative ride of the box office hit, The Crazies.