Now, there is a lot of talk about what Greenpeace actually does with its funds and the projects it takes on and that is a whole other issue, but this was just plain witty and funny, although I do believe it was edited out of main television. When the guy takes out the first banner and another one sprangs right beside it, it is really saying: “Oh no, we won’t do down that easy!” which makes him even madder and drives him into a banner destroying frenzy.
Good job, Greenpeace! Cheers.
Climate Change and overall scientific knowledge learning took a leap in US Education System by the introduction of new science education guidelines. Although the states are not, by law, required to adopt these standards, 26 states are seriously committed to considering them. This not only underlines the seriousness and undeniability of climate change, but also emphasizes science-proven facts that allow for broader mindsets, such as the evolutionary theory.
From The Guardian:
“Climate change is not a political issue and climate change is not a debate. It is science. It is strongly supported heavily research science, and our hope is that teachers will not see this as a political issue or a political debate,” [Mario Molina, deputy director at the Alliance for Climate Education] said.
(read complete Care2.com article here)
Approaching the importance of transparency and sustainability in the food industry, a national, student led organization called The Real Food Challenge, dedicated to building a just and sustainable food system won a major victory this month by signing an agreement with Sodexo, the second largest food service company in the world making sure that all the chain of vendors and food producers, stakeholders to the company, are socially responsible. Since its founding in 2008, the Real Food Challenge managed to reallocate 20%, about 1 billion dollars US, of college and university food purchases to local, sustainable, humane and fair trade sources by the year of 2020, which means a big part of the industry invoicing coming from clean sources. As Sodexo spokesperson Stephen Cox states:
“Transparency and sustainability go hand-in-hand. Increasing transparency is something we want to model for this generation of interested consumers and for our industry. Working with the Real Food Challenge is great way to do just that”
On the persistent issue of Arctic Drilling, Greenland’s first female Prime Minister Aleqa Hammond seems determined to make a difference by standing against the drilling of her country’s grounds for oil, after a failed injunction by British company Cairn Energy on the protests by Greenpeace. From The Guardian:
“Until now, the people of Greenland have been kept in the dark about the enormous risks taken by the politicians and companies in the search for Arctic oil. Now it seems that the new government will start taking these risks seriously. The logical conclusion must be a total ban on offshore oil drilling in Greenland.” Arctic campaigner for Greenpeace in Denmark, Jon Burgwald.
Greenland is the world’s largest island, with a total area of around 2.2 million square kilometres, four times the size of France (read complete Care2.com article here).
Other news worthy of note this month are the rebuilding of the reef in Mobile Bay, Alabama, by Katherine Sather from The Nature Conservancy and 500 other volunteers (see the video here), so important for the ecosystem of the region, singing to the Lynyrd Skynyrd while making sure that the future of the Gulf is a bright one; the saving of the world’s largest humpback whale nursery from natural gas company Woodside Petroleum, preventing the construction of one of the largest complexes in the planet that would drill and dredge 6 kilometers out into the sea jeopardizing a world of rare abundance and beauty for sea and sky inhabitant alike; and the on growing success of the “Ring the Bell” campaign launched by actor Patrick Stewart to prevent and tackle violence against women worldwide in a powerful and impassioned speech to the U.N. (more information about the campaign here and watch the video message by Sir Richard Branson here).
I, for one, am a huge fan of good news, the shiny silver lining amongst all the chaos happening in the world these days. For those readers that share the same liking, here lays an article that will warm your hearts and lighten your moods. These are a few stories from the past few days where Good done prevailed. Enjoy!
Last week, ONE.org was able to prevent the planned cuts in the EU budget to help the world’s poorest, making sure that the already meager help offered does not suffer yet another slicing, further increasing the gap between developed and undeveloped countries.
“When leaders arrived in Brussels last Thursday for what would become the final budget negotiation between governments, levels of development aid were being threatened with potentially deep cuts. But thanks in large part to your incredible campaigning in these final weeks, when the numbers were released, development aid to the world’s poorest was protected at current levels, despite cuts to the overall EU budget for the first time in history.
Though the EU still has a long way to go in order to keep its promises to the world’s poorest, we managed to avoid a disastrous step back. It was the voices of citizens across Europe that helped ensure that current levels of aid were protected.”
Also last week, Greenpeace managed to reduce the deforestation happening in the forests of Indonesia, saving the endangered wildlife within and demonstrating that campaigns and large-scale pressure does indeed work.
“Imagine for a moment the forests of Indonesia, buzzing with the sounds not of chainsaws, but of birds, and other wildlife that make them truly special. I’m happy to say we’ve just taken a significant step in the right direction to make this a reality.
After more than 10 years of campaigning against Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), one of the biggest rainforest destroyers on the planet, the company has agreed to immediately halt any further deforestation and develop a comprehensive forest conservation policy. If these commitments are implemented it’s BIG news for the people and wildlife who depend on Indonesia’s rainforests.”
(source: Reece Turner, Greenpeace Australia Pacific. Follow him on Twitter @RadReece or read the original article here)
Starting March 11, 2013, EU finally decided to ban animal testing for cosmetics, making a stand for animal rights and setting a standard for the rest of the world to follow.
“After decades of delays, disappointment and campaigning by animal advocacy groups, the European Union is finally set to enact its ban on animal testing for cosmetics this spring.
Beginning on March 11, anyone selling cosmetic products in the EU will not be allowed to test finished products or their ingredients on animals anywhere in the world, whether or not an alternative to animal testing is available.”
(source: Alicia Graef, Care2.com. Read the original article here)
It is also worthy of note the saving of a Bear Sanctuary in Vietnam by Animal Asia, home for 104 bears rescued from the illegal bear bile industry; the decision from Levi Strauss‘ management, announcing that they will stop treating the clothes with chemicals that cause toxic water pollution, following Greenpeace’s Detox Campaign and raising an ideal for other brands to follow ; the Great Sioux Nation reclaimed Black Hills taken from them in 1877 after congress disregarded a 1868 treaty and is now forever free to perform their ancestral rituals on their sacred land; and finally, thanks to the pressure from animal activist groups, the U.S. Military stopped the torture of animals for combat training adopting simulation training, a more humane and harmless alternative.
Thank you, Good-doers!
2062Movement.org 