Tag Archives: Greenpeace

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Some FADs aren’t meant to last … Casson Trenor, Greenpeace


*********************

Thousands of sharks, rays, billfish, and other animals die needlessly every year at the hands of the tuna industry.1

The industry cuts corners out on the water by employing fishing methods that are absolutely barbaric. Among these methods, fish aggregating devices (FADs) are one of the worst.

FADs are basically floating objects left out on the water. They attract all sorts of things, including sharks, and when the ship returns it scoops up everything around the FAD with a net.2 Hardly anything survives and they simply toss everything other than tuna-live or dead- back into the ocean.

That’s no way to do business. We have a plan to save these sharks and all the other marine life that gets trapped in FADs, but we have to act now while we have the canned tuna industry’s attention.

To do that we urgently need your financial support to increase the public outcry against deadly tuna fishing methods to convince the industry to listen to consumers and move to sustainable practices.  Please make a donation today and help us save the oceans and our environment.

www.greenpeaceusa.org

We have already gotten the industry’s attention with our animated video, and more than 50,000 of you have signed on to a letter demanding that one tuna industry giant, Chicken of the Sea, reform their destructive fishing practices. Their response has been to go on the attack using an expensive PR agency to discredit Greenpeace and people like you who care about the oceans.

We’re not going to let the personal attacks and PR spin cover up the truth.

Help us fight back! We need to raise $60,000 by September 15th. This cannot wait, we must continue to pressure the tuna industry while we have their attention. Please make a donation today and help us save the oceans.

www.greenpeaceusa.org

The United States is the largest market for canned tuna in the world. And while we will continue to work with retailers to make a commitment to sustainable tuna, we will also kick off a publicly visible campaign to garner media attention and further our research of canned tuna products. With your help, we can change the industry and save these critical species before it’s too late.

You know it’s possible. We’ve been fighting together to protect our oceans for years and have been winning. The tuna industries’ lies and PR campaigns aren’t going to stop us from doing the right thing.

Thank you for all your support,

Casson Trenor
Casson Trenor
Senior Markets Campaigner

——————————
1. D. Bromhead et al, Review of the impact of fish aggregating devices (FADs) on tuna fisheries. Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, 2003
2. Jessica Kondel and Jeremy Rusin,   Report of the 2nd Workshop on Bycatch Reduction in the ETP Purse-Seine Fishery, May 2007
http://swfsc.noaa.gov/uploadedFiles/Divisions/PRD/Publications/Kondel%20and%20Rusin%20Bycatch%20Admin%20Report%20LJ-07-04%20Final.pdf

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Chicken of the Sea: Stop Ripping up the Sea


Tell Chicken of the Sea that it’s time to end their destructive ways and start getting serious about saving the oceans.

There’s more that goes into a can of tuna than just what you find inside. A lot more.

According to an Australian government study, the canned tuna industry is responsible for killing thousands of sharks, rays, sea turtles, sea birds and other marine life as a result of the methods they use to catch tuna every year.

One company called Chicken of the Sea has a particularly bad track record when it comes to ocean destruction. That’s why we’ve been trying to start a dialogue with Chicken of the Sea for months now about how they can make their fishing practices more sustainable.

In fact, just last week I personally traveled to their headquarters and delivered a letter. They promptly showed me the door and have refused to acknowledge the damage they are doing to the oceans.

But they can’t ignore you and the tens of thousands of other Greenpeace supporters who care about the oceans. So join me and sign on to my letter to Chicken of the Sea. Once we reach 30,000 signatures I will head back to their headquarters and deliver the message again.

Tell Chicken of the Sea that it’s time to end their destructive ways and start getting serious about saving the oceans.

As one of the largest tuna companies in the U.S., Chicken of the Sea has a major role to play in saving our oceans. They have a chance to be a real leader in the industry, but it is pretty clear that they aren’t going to do it on their own.

Right now, the company is using something called fish-aggregating devices (FAD) to catch their tuna. The problem is that FADs, which are basically floating objects, don’t just attract tuna. They attract all sorts of things — including sharks, marlin, and baby bigeye tuna, which is a species in serious trouble. When the ship returns, it takes everything that has gathered around the FAD with a net. Very few animals caught in these nets survive the process.

The simple truth is that if Chicken of the Sea doesn’t change how it catches tuna, our oceans don’t stand a chance.

We aren’t going to allow that to happen. Join me and add your name to my letter today.

Once we’ve collected over 30,000 signatures I will head back to Chicken of the Sea Headquarters and deliver the letter with your signature on it. This next time we’ll make sure we get their attention.

For the oceans,

Casson Trenor,
Greenpeace Senior Markets Campaigner

P.S. Forward this to everyone in your address book who eats canned tuna and cares about the oceans.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

We can’t let them get away with it


Dirty coal power plants are causing children asthma attacks and their parents heart attacks – all while leaking toxic chemicals into local tap water. This is simply unacceptable.

Up to 34,000 people – many children – are killed by pollution from coal plants every year.  At one plant in Portland, PA 30 people die prematurely a year!

Right now, owners of obsolete, dangerous coal plants around the country – like the one in Portland – are considering spending billions of dollars to keep these killers open. With an aggressive campaign right now, we can rally communities and shut the plants down. Can you help?

Please donate by midnight tonight  to help shut these worst-of-the-worst plants down. We need just 14 donations to reach our goal of $34,000 – one dollar for every coal-related death we must stop.

A drunk driver that kills one person faces justice. But what does a company whose pollution kills 30 children and adults get? Four years to slightly reduce its pollution – and a free pass to keep killing hundreds even after its facelift. I’m not ok with that.

What’s worse, it’s children who pay the highest price. The Portland coal plant alone causes five hundred asthma attacks a year. Right now, somewhere in Pennsylvania, one of those children with asthma is struggling to breathe. We don’t know her name, but we know she’s one of hundreds and could be the next victim if we don’t act now. Fight back >>

Just a few weeks ago, the owners of the half-century-old plant in Portland began reviewing whether to spend up to half a billion dollars to keep the plant open and continue to spew toxins into the air and water. We need to act now before they make a final decision.

We’ve seen what’s possible when we fight on the ground to expose the truth, mobilize local communities, and unite national opposition with grassroots action. In the last few weeks, we’ve seen the dirty coal plant in Salem, Mass and the Beckjord plant in Ohio announce shut-down plans – though we’ll keep fighting until they close their doors for good.

We can and must stop the coal industry from taking our children’s lives and their futures – but we need you to step up before midnight tonight.

Please help end the Portland plant’s reign of terror and stop other deadly plants like it. We need just 14 gifts from Washington to reach our goal of $34,000 – one dollar for every coal-related death we can prevent when we quit coal. Deadline: midnight tonight.

Coal-fired power plants kill in many ways ranging from coal ash to toxic emittants to being the biggest source of man-made CO2 emissions. But the coal industry has given millions in campaign contributions to buy a free pass – and leave children and families paying the cost of their dirty business.

If we have the strength to act urgently, we will save lives. Are you in? We have this moment to do right by our planet and right by our children.

Join me in quitting coal,

 

Philip Radford, Greenpeace

P.S. Please make your donation by midnight tonight on our secure website or by calling 1-800-792-6995. We need just 14 donors from Washington to step up.Thank you

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Kristjan Loftsson plans to kill whales. You can stop him.


Kristján Loftsson will be deciding any day now whether or not his company will be killing endangered fin whales this year.

Loftsson is the CEO of Iceland’s only fin whaling company. What he has his eye on is the market situation in Japan. You can make sure that he has much bigger concerns than the market in Japan.

www.greenpeaceusa.org

Because of Loftsson’s flaunting of the international moratorium on commercial whaling and thanks to pressure from tens of thousands of Greenpeace supporters, President Obama’s Commerce Secretary recently declared that Iceland is undermining the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

This ruling was an important first step and clears the way for President Obama to end fin whaling in Iceland by imposing strong economic sanctions. This is our chance to end the Icelandic fin whale hunt for good.

You’ve already gotten the Commerce Secretary to act, now keep the momentum going and get the President to follow his lead. Our goal is to send 15,000 messages to the President in the next 48 hours. I know we can do it.

Help keep Mr. Loftsson’s whaling fleet off the ocean by sending a message to the President today urging him to impose strong economic sanctions on Iceland for its illegal whaling. There isn’t much time.

www.greenpeaceusa.org

President Obama has an amazing opportunity here to stand up and be a champion for the whales. Together we can make sure he takes it.

Iceland has been doing this for years and it’s clear that they aren’t going to stop until the rest of the world shows some leadership and makes them stop. That’s precisely what the President can do right now by following the recommendations of his Commerce Secretary and imposing strong economic sanctions on Iceland — and more specifically on Loftsson’s company that also sells fish products in the US — if they continue their illegal fin whale hunt.

Fin whales are already listed as endangered. The population can’t stand one more of these hunts. It needs to stop now.

Take action today and help save endangered fin whales.

www.greenpeaceusa.org

For the whales,

 

Phil Kline
Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner

P.S. Economic sanctions against Iceland will do more than just stop their illegal fin whale hunt. They will send a message to the other whaling countries that the U.S. is serious about enforcing international law to save the whales. Make sure the President does the right thing by taking action today.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

The Tuna Industry’s Dirty Little Secret


There’s a lot more to a can of tuna than the friendly looking label might suggest. Behind every happy bumble bee and smiling mermaid there’s an ocean of destruction.

That’s why Greenpeace is launching a new campaign to get the canned tuna industry to clean up its act and end its destructive ways. And to kick things off we’ve teamed up with Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Mark Fiore on a brand new video to expose the industry’s dirty little secret.

Our goal is to reach 25,000 views in the first 48 hours. If we do that, we have a great chance of giving the video the momentum it needs to really get the tuna industry’s attention.

Together we have already transformed the supermarket seafood industry in this country — getting companies like Costco, Trader Joe’s and Target to adopt real sustainable seafood policies. Now it’s time to take on the companies most responsible for ocean destruction in the United States.

You’ll be hearing a lot more about this campaign in the weeks and months to come. I can’t wait to get started.

In the meantime, check out the video and pass it along on Facebook and Twitter. The more we spread the word the faster we expose the tuna industry’s dirty little secret and save the oceans.

Sincerely,

Casson Trenor

Senior Markets Campaigner

P.S. One of the fastest and easiest ways to get people to watch the video is to forward this email to the people in your email address book.