Category Archives: Oceans

Secretary Kerry travels to Sweden for Arctic Council meeting

Posted on by

Team Aurora Arrives at the North Pole

As newly appointed U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry serves as a delegate on the Arctic Council, the only diplomatic forum dedicated entirely to the Arctic region. Secretary Kerry will meet with representatives from seven other Arctic states to discuss the environmental and biological changes to the area.

Greenpeace has worked hard to encourage Secretary Kerry to be a champion for the Arctic as the U.S. delegate.  We even sent a cheerleading squad and a marching band to our meeting at the State Department in Washington, DC last week!

The Future of the Middle East: John F. KerryThe Arctic faces imminent threats from climate change, oil drilling and industrial fishing, but Secretary Kerry has the power to protect it from all three. Based upon his Earth Day speech, Secretary Kerry plants to work hard on climate change and protecting our beautiful planet. It’s our job to make sure he doesn’t forget the words he spoke.

The science is screaming at all of us and demands action. From the far reaches of Antarctica’s Ross Sea to tropical wetlands in Southeast Asia, we have a responsibility to safeguard and sustainably manage our planet’s natural resources, and the United States remains firm in its commitment to addressing global environmental challenges.

-Secretary John Kerry, Earth Day 2013

 

Check back for live updates from the Arctic Council meeting next week. In the meantime, you can call the State Department directly and request Arctic protection.

April 2013 Photo of the Month

Posted on by

Not quite the photo op you’d expect from this location, but Christian Åslund’s shot from the North Pole is the April 2013 Greenpeace USA Photo of the Month.

Team Aurora lowers a titantium time capsule with the names of 2.7 million people who want to save the Arctic from the impacts of climate change and pollution of oil production.

Team Aurora lowers a titanium time capsule with the names of 2.7 million people who want to save the Arctic from the impacts of climate change and pollution of oil production.

Here Team Aurora prepares to lower a titanium time capsule through a hole in the ice and down to a permanent resting place on the seabed. On top is the “flag for the future” a design selected in a global competition. The orb holds the names of 2.7 million people from around the world who signed on to support protecting the Arctic. Continue reading →

US government considering seismic testing proposal, nearly 140,000 whales and dolphins at risk

Posted on by

Humpback Whale Watching off Atlantic Coast

138,500 whales and dolphins will be injured and possibly killed

It was only a couple months ago that Greenpeace celebrated a big victory on the West Coast when the California Coastal Commission voted to deny the Navy permission to conduct seismic testing in the Pacific Ocean, risking the lives of whales, dolphins and other marine life.

Now we’re up against a similar fight on the East Coast. Continue reading →

Greenpeace cheers on Secretary John Kerry to be an Arctic champ

Posted on by
Greenpeace marching band and cheerleader activists help call attention to the threat the Arctic faces from climate change and off-shore drilling during a visit to the State Department

Greenpeace marching band and cheerleader activists help call attention to the threat the Arctic faces from climate change and off-shore drilling during a visit to the State Department

Today is Foreign Affairs Day, a holiday for the US Department of State, where Greenpeace will be among world diplomats communicating with Secretary Kerry. Our message: the United States loves the Arctic! We delivered a photo album to Secretary Kerry with photos from around the country of people showing their love for the Arctic. And we delivered that message in a very unique way: with a marching band and Arctic cheerleaders!

Call the State Department now and ask Secretary Kerry to be an Arctic champ!  Continue reading →

What a semester with Greenpeace has taught me about activism

Posted on by

This blog was written by Emily Blase, a Greenpeace Semester student with the spring 2013 class.

I’m walking away from the Greenpeace Semester program saddened to say goodbye, but empowered by all the skills now under my belt. The program aims at giving students an in-depth understanding of environmental campaigning and strategy, organizing, messaging, and non-violent direct action, a peaceful tactic to protect our natural ecosystems.. Through the course of this program, we’ve had the chance to talk to many of the people at Greenpeace working directly on environmental issues. In March, our class traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina to help with a campaign that Greenpeace is running against Duke Energy, the nation’s largest utility company and gobbler of dirty energy including coal and nukes. You can see all the action from our trip on our Tumblr. Continue reading →

New Hope for the Arctic?

Posted on by

Often as an environmental campaigner, I find myself thinking the planet would be in much better shape if more thought was given, and caution taken, before industries are given free rein to exploit its precious natural resources. Not to mention the time, energy and money that would be saved in mopping up the mess of a particular environmental problem. As the age old saying goes, prevention is better than cure.

This same logic applies to the Arctic – surely it is better to stop oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean now before there is a catastrophic spill. Experience tells us that inevitably there will be a spill, which will be impossible to clean up in such harsh conditions. Similarly, it is far better to draw a line now and stop the northwards charge of large-scale industrial fishing vessels that are taking advantage of the melting sea ice than to do nothing and find out in a few years’ time that the fish are all gone and that fragile marine habitats have been destroyed. Continue reading →

Why is a giant polar bear wandering around Washington, DC?

Posted on by

I wasn’t always a traveler. In fact, I preferred to stay home in the icy oasis of the Arctic surrounded by thick ice and a healthy food supply.  Unfortunately, I’ve had to adopt the life of a nomad, wandering outside my element searching for food and a place cold enough to call home. Continue reading →

How are you celebrating World Penguin Day?

Posted on by

It’s World Penguin Day today, and a fine excuse to celebrate the majesty and silliness of fine-flippered friends. In that spirit, I thought it would be good to pull together some fun facts about penguins. Some are fun, some are facts, and some are both at once.  And don’t miss the how you can help bit at the end.

Penguin facts

All wild penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere, and although they are synonymous with the ice,  only two species live on the continent of Antarctica. The Galapagos penguin is the only penguin that ever naturally ventures into the Northern Hemisphere on especially long feeding trips

The first bird actually called a ‘penguin’ was the now-extinct Great Auk found in the North Atlantic. Tragically, early explorers and their contemporaries found Great Auks a little too tasty, and the birds were all killed off. Continue reading →

7 Reasons the Environmental Movement is Winning

Featured

Posted on by

From solar-powered emails to recycled cities, there are plenty of reasons to feel hopeful for our planet this Earth Day. Although protecting our forests, oceans and air is an endless job, we can also step back and appreciate all the really cool stuff going on all over the world thanks to people coming together and finding a better way. Big or small, these reasons all point to progress that is actually working. Continue reading →

Greenpeace team successfully completes North Pole expedition to the Arctic

Posted on by

Four young people on a mission with Greenpeace have planted a flag on the seabed beneath the North Pole, at the same spot where a submarine planted a Russian flag claiming the Arctic for Moscow.  The young people planted their ‘Flag for the Future’ four kilometers beneath the ice at the top of the world and called for the region to be declared a global sanctuary.

Take action now to save the Arctic! Continue reading →