Author Archives: Phil Radford

About Phil Radford

Phil Radford As the Executive Director of Greenpeace, Phil Radford is at the helm of one of the largest and most influential environmental organizations in the country. Phil leads a national team of 500 highly-skilled environmental leaders working in 23 cities across the U.S. on national and global campaigns to protect our planet’s oceans, forests, and climate.

What do Greenpeace and the Tea Party have in common?

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President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder are at the center of the IRS controversy

President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder are at the center of the IRS controversy

Robust democracy is essential for ecological health; democracy is guaranteed by rights afforded to individuals and groups in civil society.

Greenpeace applauds President Obama for demanding accountability up the chain of command in the matter of political discrimination by the IRS.

We believe as firmly in the rights of all members of society as we do in our own as an organization.  Stifling of political speech has no place in our society.  We have not always been granted that respect.  Greenpeace and allied organizations like the NAACP and Rainforest Action Network have been threatened – with the tax code as a weapon – by our ideological opponents and politicians allied with them. Continue reading →

Mark Ruffalo and Greenpeace US Executive Director team up to say no to fracking

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By Phil Radford & Mark Ruffalo

Originally posted to CNN

A Pennsylvania family shows their tap water from their contaminated well due to fracking

Even the heads of fossil fuel companies read the polls.They know the majority of Americans see global warming as an imminent threat and a clear sign that the way we use energy must change. But instead of offering the solar and wind choices America wants, fossil fuel companies like Shell, Exxon and Duke are offering what might be their most disastrous bait and switch yet: natural gas.

The bait? Burning natural gas is “clean” because it produces less carbon pollution than burning oil and coal. The switch? The catastrophic pollution caused when companies like Exxon fracture the earth — commonly called fracking — to get natural gas out of the ground. Continue reading →

Shell’s Plot to Take Away Your First Amendment Rights

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Oil booms visible from the recent Exxon spill in Arkansas. If the court rules in Shell's favor in a current case, any corporation including Exxon could preemptively stop protesters like Greenpeace.

Originally posted on Huffington Post

Corporations want to work in secret. It’s what they do, and why they have lawyers. In secret, they can spill, clearcut, burn, and otherwise destroy the environment and local communities while telling the world they’re doing just the opposite. Shell Oil’s legal team is currently working overtime to keep the company’s Arctic work secret from advocacy groups like Greenpeace. It’s a battle that will have implications well beyond the Far North. If Shell ultimately wins the legal battle with us this month, corporate secrecy will have the blessing of a federal court — and America’s First Amendment rights will take a devastating hit. Continue reading →

The Arctic Needs Real Protection, Not Paperwork

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Despite the potentially devastating environmental risks, Shell’s Arctic Drilling program has had President Obama’s blessing since the President took office.  The President has given Shell major leeway to bend EPA rules, forgo spill response requirements, and wink at general maritime protocol in order to drill for, at best, enough oil to last a year.

Continue reading →

Shell abandons 2013 Arctic drilling

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Greenpeace today welcomed the announcement by Royal Dutch Shell that the company will not attempt to pursue offshore drilling in Alaskan Arctic waters in 2013. Phil Radford, Greenpeace USA Executive Director said in response:“This is the first thing Shell’s done right in Alaska – calling it quits. Shell was supposed to be the best of the best, but the long list of mishaps and near-disasters is a clear indication even the ‘best’ companies can’t succeed in Arctic drilling. Secretary Salazar and President Obama gave drilling a chance; now the responsible decision is to make Arctic drilling off limits, forever.

“Taking the lead on saving the Arctic from dangerous exploitation will not only protect the fragile Arctic ecosystem and the communities that depend on it, it will send a powerful signal to other nations that it’s time to kick our addiction to fossil fuels.   Drilling in the Arctic will propel us towards catastrophic climate change, so it needs to end now.

“Shell’s announcement today is an admission that  the millions of people around the world were right to urge Obama to keep the company out of the Arctic. Now Obama needs to listen to the 2.7 million people who have signed on to #SaveTheArctic and make Arctic drilling off-limits forever.”

Tell President Obama to make Arctic drilling off limits for good. 

America’s Environmental Future Starts Now

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Originally appeared in Huffington Post

This Sunday, a new environmental movement will arrive in Washington D.C. Thousands of people will join 350.org, the Sierra Club, and the Hip Hop Caucus’ “Forward on Climate” rally to call out with one voice and demand Obama keep his promise to future generations.

I will be proud to be there with them. Continue reading →

Sharing a jail cell with Mike Brune of the Sierra Club would be an honor

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Greenpeace US Executive Director Phil Radford is taken into custody by police after Greenpeace deployed a banner from a construction crane near the State Department in 2009.

Nobody takes going getting arrested lightly, but when you’ve tried everything else, and the people with power have refused to listen or are dragging their feet, sometimes the only reasonable thing to do is to press harder with every peaceful tool you can conjure to make change, even when that lands you in a jail cell. Around the world, people are standing up to fight the dirty energy projects that pose the greatest threat to the climate as if lives depend on it – which, of course, they do. Continue reading →

After Sandy, Global Warming Should Be the Top Priority in Obama’s Second Term

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Greenpeace activists hold a banner in front of the United States Supreme Court in Washington, DC, April 19, 2011. The banner was in reaction to the Obama administration taking the side of polluters in a case before the court, AEP vs Connecticut.

Americans went into the voting booth yesterday with horrific images of the fallout from Superstorm Sandy fresh in their minds. Pictures of homes ripped from their moorings, stories of children whisked away by rushing waters, reports of elderly people trapped on top floors of buildings — the true cost of ignoring science’s warnings about global warming are now all too vivid. Continue reading →

Congratulations President Obama- we need your leadership more than ever

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When President Obama was elected four years ago, his challenge was to stop us from going into financial freefall – now his challenge is even greater: to stop us from going into a climate freefall.

Hurricane Sandy plainly shows why solving global warming must be the top priority for President Obama’s second term.  The President must stop supporting the dirty energy sources that cause global warming, fueling extreme weather and putting our coastal communities, our farmers, and our children at risk. Continue reading →