Hey
everyone! It has been a while, but since we are talking about environment I think
this is the perfect time to bring up this topic. So, I don’t know if you know
Greenpeace, but I’m pretty sure you do. This independent global campaigning organization
is one of the biggest in the world. (To maintain its independence, Greenpeace
does not accept donations from governments or corporations but relies on
contributions from individual supporters and foundation grants.)
It all started in 1971 when a group of volunteers and journalists sailed
into Amchitka, an area of north Alaska where the US government was conducting
underground nuclear tests.
There’s been a time where
I was very interested in this organization and at that time I did lots of research
about it, talking about environmental issues in our class led me to go and see
what they are doing right know. As usually, there are plenty of problems
which they are trying to solve. They mean to protect and preserve our planet by:
·
Catalyzing an energy revolution to address the number one
threat facing our planet: climate change.
·
Defending our oceans by
challenging wasteful and destructive fishing, and creating a global network of
marine reserves.
·
Protecting
the world's ancient forests and the animals, plants and
people that depend on them.
·
Working for
disarmament and peace by tackling the causes of conflict
and calling for the elimination of all nuclear weapons.
·
Creating a
toxic free future with safer alternatives to hazardous
chemicals in today's products and manufacturing.
· Campaigning
for sustainable agriculture by rejecting genetically
engineered organisms, protecting biodiversity and encouraging socially
responsible farming.
Right now they are working in
several issues. One that called my attention was the fight against
General Electric, Hitachi e Toshiba, three of the most important technological
companies which built the nuclear reactors of Fukushima. As you may know the
natural disasters that occured in Japan in 2011 (earthquake and tsunami) led to
the breakdown of these reactors, spreading nuclear radiation and its devastating effects. So far these
companies haven’t paid a cent of the cost of the nuclear failure.
The cost of the Fukushima nuclear disaster is estimated at $250 billion
US dollars.
If you are interested in some of
these topics stop by the Greenpeace’s page:
www.greenpeace.org! It has tons of information about their actions and
campaigns. You may get to help some of them if you sign the online petitions,
but don’t do it before reading all the facts!
See you around,
Inês Ribas
