Whaling Scandal Exposed!

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Scale of the scandal

Greenpeace Japan whale campaign coordinator Junichi Sato weighs 51.8 pounds of whale meat stolen by crewmembers of the Nisshin Maru whaling ship. The contents of the box were listed as "cardboard."
Photo: Naomi Toyoda

We've said for a long time that Japan's so-called research program is actually commercial whaling in a flimsy disguise. But today, we have the evidence in our hands.

After a four-month long undercover investigation, Greenpeace exposed evidence of widespread embezzlement of whale meat occurring right under the noses of the public officials who run the whaling program.

The best cuts of whale meat, used to make whale bacon, are smuggled into crew cabins, preserved in salt, and then shipped home in boxes marked "cardboard" or "salted stuff" to be sold on the black market. Greenpeace intercepted one such box -- worth up to $3,000.

Greenpeace has evidence that more than a ton of whale meat was snuck from the whaling ship this year alone. One of our sources claims to have heard a crew member boast of building a house on the proceeds from his illegal take.

And, after all of this, we're still supposed to believe that the hunt is all in the name of scientific research to help the whales? Come on! Nobody is buying that line anymore.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Now is the time to rock the boat in Japan. The whaling program has been an embarrassment to Japan's Foreign Affairs department all year. Your letters helped cancel the humpback hunt - and now in the spotlight of this scandal, it's time to cancel the rest.

Take action and send a message to the Prime Minister asking him to end whaling for good! We need your help to put an end to "research" whaling once and for all.

For the whales,

John Hocevar
Oceans Campaigner

p.s. In order to pressure the Japanese Government to stop whaling, we need to keep the spotlight on this scandal. Please, pass this along to your friends and ask them to act now!

Breaking News on Polar Bears!

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Help Greenpeace Take a Stand.

2: Take Action
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3: Tell a Friend
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May 14, 2008

It's taken several years, lawsuits, and thousands of letters from you, but the Bush Administration finally listed the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act today. I'd love to tell you that that's great news, but there's a BIG catch. The Administration listed the polar bear as threatened instead of endangered, and invoked a clause (known as a "4(d) exemption") that excludes global warming from the list of threats the federal government has to consider when trying to protect polar bear habitat. Global warming is the biggest threat facing polar bears today, and this little clause eliminates any protection the listing should have given to the polar bear. In fact, global warming is the very reason we sued the Administration for protection of the polar bear in the first place. So who's really being protected here? Polar bears or the oil industry? The listing specifically says that federal agencies don't need to consider the impact of global warming pollution on the polar bear. But there's more: the listing also proposes a separate regulation that reduces the protections the polar bear would otherwise receive under the Endangered Species Act. Meanwhile, in the months leading up to this weak decision, the Administration conveniently sold oil leases in prime polar bear habitat off Alaska's northwest coast. Are you starting to get the picture here? Well, if your temperature is rising like mine is, there are a couple of things I'd like you to do about it: First, join our new Rapid Response Network. Here's how it works: we will send you a pop up notice about breaking news stories like this, as well as an easy way to click to promote the article to the Most Popular list of sites like CNN, Reuters, Yahoo News and a dozen other online media outlets. If you have just 5 minutes to spare each week, you have time to be a Rapid Responder! Next, please consider a donation today to help us fight for polar bears and ramp up our campaigns to stop global warming. We're not going to stand by and let the Administration get away with this, and I hope you won't either. Despite the loopholes the Bush Administration has inserted, it is crystal clear that without your tremendous support, they would have continued to ignore the polar bear until it disappeared altogether. I thank you for your determination and continued support. For the future of polar bear, Melanie Duchin Global Warming Campaigner, Alaska

Big Oil Launches New Attacks on Polar Bears... Vote Tomorrow!

The McConnell-Domenici amendment threatens sensitive denning habitat for polar bears.

Call your Senators now and let them know that you oppose the McConnell-Domenici amendment to the Flood Insurance Bill

This is an urgent alert: As soon as tomorrow (Tuesday), the Senate will vote on an amendment to the national Flood Insurance Bill offered by Senator Mitch McConnell (KY) and co-sponsored by Senator Pete Domenici (NM) that threatens polar bears and other wildlife.

Rather than addressing high oil prices and dependence on foreign oil by moving toward better alternatives and practical solutions, this amendment promotes more drilling in more places for more oil profits.

This is not a solution, it’s a sell off. Please take action right now…

1. Make the call. Either today or tomorrow morning, please call your Senators

2. Deliver this message:

“My name is {your name}, and I’m calling from {your town} to urge the Senator to OPPOSE the McConnell-Domenici amendment (#4720) to the Flood Insurance Bill. This awful amendment would allow harmful drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, promote the use of unproven coal-to-liquid technologies, promote environmentally harmful shale development and end the decades-old moratorium on new drilling off the coasts of Florida, California, Virginia and other coastal states.”

3. Report your call. Your feedback will help our activists on Capitol Hill more effectively target their efforts to defeat this awful proposal.

The McConnell-Domenici amendment is the latest in a long string of ill-conceived, cynical and increasingly desperate attempts by the oil companies and their allies in Congress to industrialize our wild places under the guise of “energy security.”

Here are some facts about the amendment that the oil companies don’t want you to hear…

• It won’t lower summer gas prices in America.
  New drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge wouldn’t hit the market for many years. Even then, its effect on prices at the pump will be small. In fact, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data indicates that in 2030, when oil discovered in the Arctic Refuge would be near peak production levels, the effect at the gas pump would be only about two pennies per gallon.
• The MConnell-Domenici amendment will threaten polar bears.
  The noise and disturbance caused by drilling in the Arctic Refuge -- the most important onshore denning habitat for America’s struggling polar bears -- could cause polar bear mothers to abandon their cubs to die. Such drilling would also further extend America’s dependence on climate-changing fuel sources that are threatening the very survival of these and other animals.
• The MConnell-Domenici amendment will threaten birds, sea lions and other wildlife.
  Last year’s disastrous oil spill off the coast of San Francisco, which killed birds and raised concerns about the long-term impacts on the area’s sea lions and harbor seals, demonstrates the dangers of increased oil production and shipping off our coasts.
• The amendment will undercut efforts to fight global warming.
  The McConnell-Dominici amendment would not only extend America’s addiction to oil, it would also encourage the use of coal-to-liquid technology technology -- which emits high quantities of greenhouse gasses -- and promote environmentally destructive oil shale development.

We’re counting on you! Please help stop Big Oil’s latest assault on America’s wildlife by calling your Senators today…

With Gratitude,

Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife

P.S. Last week, the oil and gas lobbying group -- the American Petroleum Institute -- announced a multi-year, multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at exploiting concerns over high gas prices to protect sky-high profits for ExxonMobil, Chevron and other Big Oil companies. Help us fight their misinformation by calling your Senators today.

Coal and Global Warming

We all know that global warming is a serious problem, but we don't all agree on the solutions. Some solutions are proven - like wind and solar energy. Others are more like pipe dreams or schemes that can actually increase global warming. That's the case with an idea called carbon capture and storage, which theoretically would capture carbon dioxide emitted from coal power plants and store it underground.

Carbon capture and storage is unproven, unlike renewable energy alternatives. In fact, the coal industry has latched onto the idea as an excuse to continue polluting and building new power plants that will add to, rather than solve, the global warming crisis. The industry is working hard on Capitol Hill to secure billions of dollars in subsidies for this dangerous technology. Instead, lawmakers should support technologies like wind and solar that can begin to reduce global warming pollution today, not on false hopes that may never deliver.

TAKE ACTION -- Tell Congress: Pull the plug on false solutions and invest in real alternatives now.

The truth behind carbon capture and storage is that even if it worked, the technology wouldn't be available until 2030 - despite calls from scientists worldwide that global warming must be addressed within the next 10 years if we hope to minimize its impacts.

That's why Greenpeace activists showed up today at a government -sponsored conference on Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technology in Pennsylvania with 1,200 black balloons carrying the message, "Coal is Dirty." We also released a new report called "False Hope: Why Carbon Capture and Storage Won't Save the Climate," calling on the government to invest in proven technologies like wind and solar and efficiency that will begin to reduce global warming pollution today.

The time to act is now, and the technologies to stop global warming already exist. The coal industry should go the way of the dinosaur - the era of renewable energy has arrived.

Sincerely,

Kate Smolski
Global Warming Campaigner

p.s. Want to know more about this? Get the full story online and read the report.

Good news for Orangutans

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Just five days after Greenpeace launched a new campaign against Unilever, which makes Dove beauty products, the company announced plans to support Greenpeace's call for a moratorium on rainforest destruction in Indonesia. This is fantastic news for the highly endangered orangutan, whose forest home has been destroyed at an alarming rate, in large part due to the production of palm oil (a key ingredient in many of Unilever food and cosmetic products).

We launched the campaign with a series of actions across Europe, issuing a report documenting Unilever's harmful practices and sending Greenpeace activists dressed as orangutans to Unilever's headquarters to hang a banner and draw attention to the company's "monkey business."

Why Unilever? Unilever is one of the largest users of palm oil in the world. This means Unilever has a huge influence on the way palm oil is made.

In addition to the serious threat to orangutans, Sumatran tigers, and Javan rhinoceroses, destruction of the Indonesian rainforest is also a major contributor to global warming. As the carbon from trees and several feet of underlying peatland is released into the atmosphere, huge volumes of greenhouse gases are accelerating climate change. Indonesia is the third largest emitter of these gases in the world, due to the destruction of its forests at the hands of the palm oil industry.

Unilever's announcement could lead to a win-win for orangutans and the climate. A moratorium would buy time for Greenpeace to push for long-term protections for Indonesia's threatened rainforests.

Sincerely,

Scott Paul
Forest Campaigner

Good news for Polar Bears

Polar bears have had it rough in recent years, and global warming is only making the situation worse. That's why we joined the Center for Biological Diversity and NRDC to sue the Bush Administration and seek Endangered Species status for the polar bear. Well, after months of delaying an announcement, just long enough to sell off oil leases in polar bear habitat, the Bush Administration has finally been ordered by a judge to make a final decision by May 15th.

Polar bears are in real danger of becoming the first mammal to become extinct as a direct result of global warming. Last year, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) predicted that the world's polar bear population was likely to diminish by as much as two-thirds by 2050 - including every single polar bear within the United States. In fact, scientists predict that the Arctic could be completely ice-free in the summers as early as 2012. Listing the polar bear under the ESA would require that polar bears be protected. The only way to do that is to protect their Arctic ice habitat, which means reducing the pollution that causes global warming.

This ruling is great news for the polar bear and an important step toward protecting the entire Arctic ecosystem from the impacts of global warming.

I'll be sure to keep you posted once the decision is official.

I'll be in touch with you soon,

Melanie Duchin
Global Warming Campaigner, Alaska

p.s. Get the full scoop on Bush's delays to protect the polar bear on our web site.

Polar Bear Breakthrough

Alaska's polar bears have moved one big step closer to receiving protection under the Endangered Species Act. A federal judge just ordered the Bush Administration to stop dragging its feet and decide by May 15 whether it will safeguard America's polar bears from the threat of extinction due to rising temperatures and rapidly melting sea ice. It took a lawsuit by NRDC, the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace to force this latest breakthrough. The court ruled that the Bush Administration had violated the law by missing its January deadline and then proceeding to delay for months more. While the Administration stalled for time, it rammed through oil and gas leases in some of the polar bear's most important Arctic habitat. By ordering a May 15 deadline for this decision, the federal courts have thrown polar bears an important lifeline. That's because the Endangered Species Act requires this momentous decision to be made solely on the best available science -- not politics -- and the science is absolutely clear that the polar bear urgently needs protection from the impacts of global warming. With reports of polar bears starving and drowning...snowy dens collapsing on mother bears and their newborn cubs...and populations in decline, there is no longer any doubt that the climate crisis is taking a terrible toll on these magnificent creatures. But despite the iron-clad evidence, there is no assurance that the Bush Administration will do the right thing on May 15. Given President Bush's pro-polluter agenda and relentless attacks on wildlife, it is still possible that the Interior Department will deny protection for the polar bear. In that case, we'll be fully prepared to drag the Bush Administration back to court and fight in the legal arena until polar bears win the protection they so urgently need. I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as we get word of the Administration’s decision. In the meantime, if you haven't done so already, please take a moment to tell your senators to stop oil development in Alaska's prime polar bear habitat. With Alaska's polar bears under siege, I am so grateful to have you working by our side to help ensure their survival. Sincerely, Frances Beinecke President Natural Resources Defense Council

Stop Alaska's Road of Ruin

Stop a Destructive Road

The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge shelters tens of thousands of shorebirds, including the threatened Steller’s eider.

Call your Senator today and tell him to oppose a path of destruction through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

Then tell us how your call went -- this important step will help us in our advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill.The Izembek National Wildlife Refuge is one of Alaska's most ecologically unique refuges, with lagoons, tundra and stunning mountain peaks. This incredible habitat is home to brown bears, wolverines, caribou and other wildlife.

But a proposed road would slice through the ecological heart of this special place, devastating fragile habitat and the wildlife that lives there.

As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Mel Martinez can defeat Ted Stevens’s and Lisa Murkowski’s costly and unnecessary bill that would blaze a destructive path through one of our national treasures.

Call your Senator today and tell him to oppose a path of destruction through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. A Committee vote could come as early as Wednesday.

Mel Martinez
DC: (202) 224-3041
Local: (904) 398-8586

Deliver this simple message:
“My name is {your name} and I’m calling from {your town}. I want to urge my Senator to oppose S. 1680 -- a bill that would create a destructive road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. S. 1680 would devastate this special place by blazing an expensive and unnecessary road right through the heart of the Izembek Refuge, disturbing the fragile habitat and wildlife that live there. I urge you to stop this harmful and costly road by opposing S. 1680. Thank you for your time.”

Then tell us how your call went -- this important step will help us in our advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill.

Tens of thousands of waterfowl, seabirds and shorebirds rely on the Izembek for nesting and feeding. In fact, the refuge shelters the threatened Steller’s eider and nearly the entire population of the Pacific black brant and the emperor goose each fall.

With your help, we can defeat this costly and destructive plan -- and preserve one of Alaska’s most spectacular places.

Sincerely, Noah Matson Vice President for Land Conservation Defenders of Wildlife

Water for Gas- Save Money AND the Planet!!

Let's start from the end - happy mileage. That's what we all want! To pay less at the pump. Is that what you want too? Wouldn't it be nice to ALSO clean up the atmosphere, prevent global warming - and enjoy a smooth ride?

What happens in actual fact is that the auto factories are not independent. They are directed and controlled by greater forces of economy and other vested interests. Short sighted, yet powerful (filthy rich, that is) businessmen, direct the general flow toward lower and lower gas economy. They want you to waste gas.

That's the reason for all those gas hogs on the road. Lately they dropped in sales because people are starting to realize what a trap they have been led into: temporarily affordable gas prices, and giant SUV's pushed on us as the fashionable thing to have; the automakers and the advertising machine that serves them have pushed everybody and his wife to purchase a great “Sport Utility” vehicle that never sees any more sport than hurrying up to a show-off party or shopping at the mall.

We've been conditioned to think “performance”, and we started to think in terms of “GOOD VEHICLE equals FANCY equals BIG AND STRONG equals SHOW OFF equals HORSEPOWER” and so forth. Look at the endless stream of TV ads for huge vehicles and luxury sports cars. Nobody is trying to sell mileage.

They want you to waste gas and they want engines to run hot and burn valves and pistons and lubricating oil, and they want the systems in your vehicle to clog itself up with unburned fuel. THEY THINK THEY WILL SELL MORE CARS THAT WAY AND IT SEEMS TO BE WORKING FOR THEM. For a while, only for a while (short sighted, I said) because they are destroying the economy and the planet for their own sons and daughters.

Cars developed in Japan are more mileage- and environment-friendly, but are not fantastically better. There is actually not ONE really good car in all those glittering show rooms around town. Electric hybrids, you said? I hear you. Those are fantastic and quiet in the parking lot, gliding near you with barely a whisper. But on the highway they are in the same stinking ballpark as everybody else.

According to a recent study by WantToKnow.info, a worldwide research group, since 1908 and the Ford-T, the average mileage DROPPED by almost 40%!

While every other technology soared through the roof during these past 100 years - MPG has become twice as bad. Do you see a pattern yet?

And when you see that all this is happening in spite of severe warnings against planetary destruction and oil dependability being a national hazard, you can clearly see that we're dealing with criminals. In positions of power, but criminals just yet. To rely upon them to correct the situation is a big waste of time. Why? Because once they have done a crime, they MUST continue to do it in order to justify their actions. They have no plans to correct their car designs any time soon.

Have you watched the movie “who killed the electric car?” It is not a new scene. For many years, from time to time a too-good of a design slips by their watchful eye into the market. Soon after, that model is recalled and disappears (it's not ancient history – Toyota's 100-MPG Eco Spirit has been “erased” only a couple years ago). They know what they are doing.

YET SO DO WE. We know what we are doing – we are filling up the gap LEFT BY AUTOMAKERS, and we're doing it by detecting and testing any doable and affordable gas economy trick under the sun; but not only that - we also teach it to others! This is a grassroots movement that will win by numbers. Quiet numbers of DOERS, not TALKERS.

We ask you to lead the way and show the way to your friends, your family and the people of your country. Your family's future relies on what you do here and now. Find out more information HERE!

Actually, we don't want to be dumb

Friends-

You've probably seen it. Thomas Friedman's April 30 New York Times op-ed, "Dumb As We Wanna Be", chided Congress for failing to figure out how to pay for the extension of critically needed clean energy tax credits. At a "time when we should be throwing everything into clean power innovation," he wrote, Congress is "squabbling over pennies."

As if on cue, Congressional leadership just made a decision to yank inclusion of the solar investment tax credit (ITC) from the Iraq War Supplemental legislation, without a clear plan for addressing energy security in this country.

The House and the Senate have each passed versions that the other side finds distasteful, and now we seem to be at an impasse, close to Memorial Day recess, without a clear path to victory. So what is going to cause a breakthrough in this Congressional log jam? Nothing short of constant constituent pressure. Can you make a call to your Congressional representatives? Tell them that solar means energy security, and you'd like to see an extension of the solar tax credits attached to the next legislative vehicle that moves. Capitol switchboard is 202/224-3121.

Or, mail the Friedman op-ed to your representatives in Congress, asking them to find the energy to be serious about extending the solar ITC. Take action here.

Onwards-

The Vote Solar Initiative
300 Brannan Street, Suite 609
San Francisco, CA 94107
www.votesolar.org


to subscribe: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/votesolar/signUp.jsp?key=987

Sea Turtle Nesting Lowest in Nearly 20 Years

Loggerheads in Trouble

Loggerhead sea turtles -- threatened by commercial fishing, global warming and coastal development and disturbance -- are on the decline.

Help ensure that more adults return home to nest and hatchlings make it out to sea where they belong.

Fast Fact: To nest, female loggerheads return to the beach where they hatched.

In Florida, loggerhead sea turtles are nesting at the lowest rate since 1989, putting these already-threatened marine travelers at even greater risk of extinction.

Urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list Western North Atlantic loggerheads as endangered and designate critical habitat to ensure that more adults return home to nest and hatchlings make it out to sea where they belong.

We only have until Monday (May 5th) to submit comments, so please take action now.

It takes approximately 30 years for loggerheads to reach maturity and begin nesting. To nest and lay their eggs, these sea turtles make an epic journey from the Western part of the North Atlantic, all the way home to the southeastern coast of the U.S. and Mexico.

Each year, tens of thousands of loggerhead sea turtles -- many on their trip south to nest -- are killed by indiscriminate fishing gear, such as longlines, gillnets, and trawls. But even those loggerheads that make it home to their nesting beaches in Florida, the Carolinas and Georgia are far from safe.

Habitat loss and disturbance from coastal development, rising sea levels from global warming and other factors threaten sea turtle mothers, eggs, hatchlings and, ultimately, the entire Western North Atlantic population of loggerhead sea turtles.

Help save these turtles. Send a message to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now.

Loggerhead sea turtles are already listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, but there is growing cause for concern for the future of the species.

A five-year status update required under the Endangered Species Act reported declining loggerhead populations -- a trend that is likely to worsen unless the effects of coastal development and disturbance, global warming, commercial fishing and other threats to loggerheads are addressed soon.

This year’s loggerhead nesting season is already underway. Please take action today to help protect these amazing sea turtles.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Fleming Florida Representative Defenders of Wildlife

Major Arctic sea ice melt is expected this summer

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID (AP Science Writer)

From Associated Press

May 02, 2008 3:11 PM EDT

WASHINGTON - The Arctic will remain on thinning ice, and climate warming is expected to begin affecting the Antarctic also, scientists said Friday.

"The long-term prognosis is not very optimistic," atmospheric scientist Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University said at a briefing.

Last summer sea ice in the North shrank to a record low, a change many attribute to global warming.

But while solar radiation and amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are similar at the poles, to date the regions have responded differently, with little change in the South, explained oceanographer James Overland of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

What researchers have concluded was happening, was that in the North, global warming and natural variability of climate were reinforcing one another, sending the Arctic into a new state with much less sea ice than in the past.

"And there is very little chance for the climate to return to the conditions of 20 years ago," he added.

On the other hand, Overland explained, the ozone hole in the Antarctic masked conditions there, keeping temperatures low in most of the continent other than the peninsula reaching toward South America.

"So there is a scientific reason for why we're not seeing large changes in the Antarctic like we're seeing in the Arctic," he said.

But, Overland added, as the ozone hole recovers in coming years, global warming will begin to affect the South Pole also.

The briefing covered data being reported in a paper scheduled for publication next week in Eos, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

Overland said he used to be among those skeptical about the effects of global climate change. The new findings, which he termed "startling," were developed at a recent workshop, he said.

There is agreement between weather observations, the output of computer climate models and scientific expectations for what should happen, added Francis.

All the evidence points toward human-made changes at both poles, she said, a conclusion that "further depletes the arsenals of those who insist that human-caused climate change is nothing to worry about."

Climatologist Gareth Marshall of the British Antarctic Survey said that while the term global warming is widely used, things are more complicated at the regional level.

In the Antarctic, he explained, climate change strengthened winds blowing around the continent, helping trap colder air. But that will decrease in the future, allowing warmer conditions to begin, he said.

And, Marshall added, all studies now show that human activities are the drivers of climate change in the Antarctic.

Asked if this summer will match last year's record low sea ice in the North, Overland that is likely.

"The tea leaves point to a minimal amount of sea ice next September, that would be the same as we had last summer, 40 percent loss compared to 20 years ago," he said. Overland added that the winter freeze got a late start last fall.

Francis added: "Over this entire fall, winter and right up 'till today the ice concentration, the amount of ice that's floating around on the Arctic, has been below normal every single day."

"All arrows are pointing towards, certainly not a recovery, something like we had last summer and possibly worse," she said.

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On the Net:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: http://www.noaa.gov

American Geophysical Union: http://www.agu.org