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THE WITNESS
Mobile Solar Lighting Unit
Today was another sunny, but cold, day in Rockaway Beach. With nearly 6 kilowatts of solar panels deployed, the kitchen, the YANA headquarters, communications, the medical clinic and houses here are really enjoying the light. With help from SolaRover, Solar1 and the Greenpeace Rolling Sunlight – the Rockaways are being repowered with solar electricity. Continue reading
Lacanja Chansayab Community in Mexico / Yuk, 4, and Ruth,11, Lacandon children swim in their hometown Lacanja Chansayab, a community located in the limits of Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve, in Lacandona Rainforest. Lacanja Chansayab is one of the six communities participating in the REDD+ (Reduction Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) Programme from the State Government. 06/22/2012 © Ginnette Riquelme / Greenpeace
I felt relieved when I heard Obama’s victory speech this morning, and I particularly resonated with him when he spoke about the future of America’s children.
“We want our children to live in an America that isn’t burnt by debt, that isn’t weakened by inequality, that isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet,” said Obama during his speech. Crowds burst into applause, while probably millions of other citizens of the world heard his vision.
My relief came with the realisation that Barack Obama shares our vision. When President Obama was elected four years ago, his challenge was to stop the US from going into financial freefall. His challenge is even greater now – he needs to play a more assertive roleinternationally on the issue of climate change and stop us all from climate freefall. Continue reading
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
President Barack Obama visits the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for an update on the recovery from Hurricane Sandy that hit New York and New Jersey especially hard earlier this week, Saturday morning, Nov. 3, 2012, in Washington. He is flanked by FEMA chief Craig Fugate, left, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, right. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Originally posted to The Huffington Post. By Tom Zeller Jr.
With President Barack Obama’s reelection victory unfolding against the backdrop of an East Coast brought to its knees by last week’s historically violent storm, Hurricane Sandy — an event that in many minds is linked, directly or indirectly, to a rapidly warming planet — environmental groups expressed guarded hope late Tuesday that a new opportunity was at hand to address climate change and a diverse menu of other green issues that they say the president proved either unwilling, or unable, to fully shoulder during his first four years. Continue reading
Greenpeace's solar truck the Rolling Sunlight is traveling through New York and New Jersey providing electricity for folks without power
I’m en route with Greenpeace’s Rolling Sunlight, our solar panel topped truck, to New York City to help provide electricity for cell phone charging there to New Yorkers who have lost power in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
On our way, we stopped in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where President Obama visited today to tour damage from this Frankenstorm. We wanted to ask President Obama about his plans to address the global warming that’s fueling extreme weather events like Sandy, and stopped our solar truck outside the airport with a banner reading, “Obama! Romney! Global Warming = Sandy What Now?”
We couldn’t get any closer than that to Air Force One before having to leave to make it to New York tonight, but we and others will keep working to get the message to President Obama and Governor Romney in the next few days before the election and beyond. Our next president will have to set policies so that we’re ready as these extreme weather events continue, and so that we can prevent this new reality from getting much worse by dealing with the global warming behind it. Continue reading
Last week, Greenpeace posted a comparison of Romney’s new “War on Coal” TV ads with coal industry advertising. Our analysis shows that Romney’s ads mirror four decades of coal industry advertising.
It turns out that the coal industry is not only providing Romney with talking points for his TV ads, but also with human props. The Romney “War on Coal” TV ad features the candidate speaking in front of a crowd of coal miners. Murray Energy Company forced these miners to miss a day of work without pay, and told them that attendance was mandatory at the Romney event. On Tuesday, Progress Ohio filed an FEC complaint over the use of coal miners in the Romney TV ad. “Clearly the [Romney] campaign should have thought better of exploiting the forced support of these workers,” said Brian Rothenberg, Executive Director of ProgressOhio.
The TV ad is running in coal states, including Ohio and West Virginia. In the ad, Romney declares “we have 250 years of coal! Why wouldn’t we use it?” Greenpeace analysis revealed that this estimate is frequently used in coal advertising, even though the National Academy of Sciences shows it to be vastly overestimated.
Do you live near a dangerous chemical plant? You might know you do, or you might live in a city like Chicago, New York, or Los Angeles and not even realize that you live near a facility that puts you at risk every day. You might also work at a hospital that could be overrun by the casualties from a chemical disaster, or work for the fire or police department that has to respond to such an event. Even if that isn’t the case, you likely live very near any of the major railroads that are carting lethal gases through your community every day.
On behalf of these communities, over 100 organizations representing workers, disproportionately impacted communities, healthcare professionals, and environmentalists have repeated their request to President Obama that he use his authority under the Clean Air Act to prevent chemical disasters. And it is not just these organizations and the communities they represent, the New York Times has asked for the EPA to take action, and so has the former Administrator of the EPA under President Bush, Governor Christine Todd Whitman, whose call followed the formal request of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council.
Congressional Republicans have stymied efforts to correct what the New York Times calls a “clear and present danger,” but the Obama Administration has advocated strongly for a comprehensive policy that would focus on preventing a chemical disaster by using safer technologies, instead of just focusing on fenceline security. President Obama has been clear that he will move his agenda forward with or without Congress and when it comes to the dangers from chemical plants, he has the tools to do just that.
According to chemical facility reports to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), more than 480 chemical facilities each put 100,000 or more people at risk of a poison gas disaster. President Obama knows about this risk and in his 2008 campaign plan “Change We Can Believe In” he pledged to “Secure our chemical plants by setting a clear set of federal regulations that all plants must follow, including improving barriers, containment, mitigation and safety training, and wherever possible, using safer technology, such as less toxic chemicals.”
Now is the time for the president and the EPA to act on this campaign pledge. This Congress has become captive of the chemical companies that want their profits to trump the safety and security of the public and has failed to pass any law that would focus on disaster prevention. President Obama needs to now take the reigns and fully implement the Clean Air Act protections that will make our communities safer.
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