Tag Archives: Greenpeace

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

The coal industry


Somewhere in America a family will lose a loved one in the next hour as a result of pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Pollution from the coal industry isn’t just poisoning our communities. It’s polluting our political process as well. The millions of dollars they spend on lobbying and campaign contributions has allowed them to continue doing business as usual. But that’s changing.

Communities everywhere are standing up to the coal industry and doing what they have to do to keep their families safe and protect their air and water. And Greenpeace is supporting them.

That’s why we created a new website — www.quitcoal.org — especially for these activists and for anyone who is concerned about coal. Check out their stories and be one of the first people to see our new site by clicking on the video below.

We feel that this site can serve as a valuable resource by providing a platform for these activists to share their story and connect with other people in the movement and to highlight the work that is being done across the country to build a clean energy future.

You’ll be hearing a lot more about the site in the future. Thanks for all you do.

Quit Coal,

Kelly Mitchell

Greenpeace Coal Campaigner

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

1st Victory …Rolf Skar, Greenpeace


You have helped us achieve something amazing and I can’t thank you enough. Thanks to you, we have shown a global spotlight on Mattel and exposed Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) for destroying tiger forests.  As a result, the toy industry is starting to clean up their act. 

There’s no doubt they know you are watching.

Since our campaign kicked off last month, the response has been amazing. More than 60,000 of you sent letters to Mattel urging them to drop APP and adopt policies to protect forests. But Mattel isn’t the only toy company we are holding accountable. In our recent Toying With Extinction report, we showed that Hasbro, Disney and Lego were wrapping toys in rainforest destruction.

I’m happy to say we have our first victory!

Just last week, Lego became the first toy giant to stand up for Indonesian forests. This is big news, and sign that our efforts are working. Lego announced a plan to end business with companies linked to deforestation, reduce its packaging, maximize recycled paper content, and source only certified sustainable wood for any virgin tree fiber it uses. That’s great news for rainforests and the people and wildlife that depend on them.

As for Mattel, they have said publicly they will drop APP and make a new policy to protect forests. But for forests, actions are more important than words. Greenpeace is keeping the pressure on Mattel — the world’s largest toy company — until they back up their statements with real changes.

You might wonder, do toy companies really matter? The answer is: absolutely. Mattel claims to sell three Barbie dolls every second. That’s just one of their toys.  And Mattel is just one of the toy companies we’re changing. Add them all up, and the toy industry uses a lot of paper.

Through our high-profile, global campaign, we are sending a clear message to companies around the world that rainforest destruction is bad for business. We couldn’t do that without you.

Our work isn’t done yet, and its critical that we keep up the pressure. I’ll update you as we achieve more together. But for now, it’s also important for us to pause, celebrate our latest victory, and say thanks.

For the forests,

 
Rolf Skar, Senior Forest Campaigner
Greenpeace

P.S. Our dedicated staff around the world — including those on the ground in Indonesia — are fighting hard to save critically endangered Sumatran tigers. With your help, we can bring them back from the brink of extinction. If you haven’t already please make a donation to Greenpeace today.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

How to Quit Coal in 30 Seconds …Greenpeace


Check out this amazing video of Greenpeace activists painting “Quit Coal” on the 450 ft. tall smokestack at the Fisk power plant in Chicago. They were up there for 26 hours getting the message out.

Watch the video and then help them spread the word even more by sharing it with your friends. Just click the image below…

All told, air pollution from coal-fired power plants kills tens of thousands of Americans every year. That human cost isn’t part of the bottom-line for giant utility companies like Edison International that operate plants like the ones in Chicago.

But local communities everywhere are fighting back. And Greenpeace has a campaign to support them.

Spread the word about the movement to quit coal by watching our video and sharing it with your friends right now.

The more views this video gets in its first 24 hours the more likely it is to become popular on YouTube! And the more popular it becomes the more people will hear about the amazing work activist all over are doing to get coal out of their communities.

Sincerely,

Kelly Mitchell

Greenpeace Coal Campaigner

P.S. Please forward this to everyone you know who likes amazing videos!

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

BREAKING: Why I’m on a smokestack in Chicago


Community activists in Chicago are fighting for their lives right now against Edison International — the giant utility company that owns the city’s two coal-fired power plants.

Pollution from the Fisk and Crawford plants prematurely kills 42 people every year. That human cost is paid entirely by the communities who live in the shadows of these two aging plants. You won’t find it on Edison International’s bottom-line.

But Chicagoans are fighting back. And Greenpeace is supporting them. That’s why I’m on the smokestack at the Fisk power plant today taking action with other Greenpeace activists. We’re sending a simple message to Edison International: Shut down these plants and quit coal.

The corporate bottom-line for Edison International says that they can’t make money on these plants if they can’t poison the local community for free. Simple as that. It’s why they’re fighting city efforts to reduce toxic pollution and it’s why they really can’t afford the bad publicity right now. Which is why it’s so important you speak out.

Join us and tell Edison International CEO Ted Craver to shut down Fisk and Crawford. 

www.greenpeaceusa.org

What’s happening in Chicago isn’t unique. It plays out again and again every day in communities just like yours from Texas to Colorado to Pennsylvania. In fact, coal is costing Americans up to an extra HALF A TRILLION DOLLARS every year. Meanwhile, companies like Edison International are making a killing.

It has to stop and it’s why what these community activists in Chicago are doing is so important.

Edison International can make this change. They’ve already done it in California where their local subsidiary has become the largest purchaser of renewable energy among American utility companies and has plans to phase out ALL coal power by 2016.

Chicago deserves the same. Every community affected by a dirty coal-fired power plant deserves the same. That’s why Greenpeace is working and will continue working with communities across the country to make sure that coal companies like Edison International are no longer allowed to poison people for profit.

You can help support these communities by sending a message to Edison International CEO Ted Craver today. Let’s quit coal.

Sincerely,

Kelly Mitchell

Greenpeace Coal Campaigner

P.S. Please forward this to your friends and family

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

A national victory against coal …from Greenpeace

1 Comment

For over 60 years, the coal-fired power plant in Salem Harbor, MA has been taking a toll on the community’s health by polluting the drinking water and poisoning the air.

But the community fought back.

And thanks to the hard work of local activists, it was announced this week that the Salem Harbor Generating Station is going to close. It’s a huge victory. Not just for the people of Massachusetts, but for activists in Colorado, Illinois, Pennsylvania and everywhere else who are working to shut down dirty coal plants in their communities.

Our campaign is just beginning. Greenpeace is going to continue to help these activists shut down the coal-fired power plants that are killing their communities.

However, they can’t win without strong health standards from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that limit pollution of toxins like mercury that come from coal-fired power plants. You have the power to make that happen by submitting a comment right now.

Help us close down even more dirty coal-fired power plants by submitting a comment to EPA now and urging them to strictly limit mercury and other toxic pollution from these plants.

www.greenpeaceusa.org

The EPA’s ability to protect American families from dangerous toxins like mercury is currently under attack by energy industry lobbyists and their friends in Congress. We have to speak up if we want to beat back these attacks and if we want more victories like the one this week in Salem Harbor. It’s as simple as that.

Right now, the coal industry doesn’t have to worry about the kids who develop asthma or the women put at risk of having a child with birth defects. Those costs are just passed on to the community. The EPA can change all that and put the cost of coal back onto the polluters responsible by limiting the pollution of toxins like mercury from these plants.

The comment period is only open for a short time. Submit a comment today.

It’s time to quit coal,

Kelly Mitchell

Greenpeace Coal Campaigner