A climate of corruption

 

If you think oil, gas, and coal companies pay to get anti-climate politicians elected to Congress, think again. I mean, you’re right — but it’s only the beginning. Once those candidates get elected, they keep on raking in more and more dirty dollars. So while the people paid Joe Manchin $174,000 in 2020 (that’s the annual salary for serving in the U.S. Senate), the fossil fuel industry and its boosters paid his campaign more than $577,000.1 Wonder which he feels accountable to, the people of West Virginia or ExxonMobil?2 Well, at Greenpeace, we’re accountable to YOU. We never sell out. But we do ask our members and supporters to renew for each new year — and right now there are only three days left before our January 31 deadline. We’re counting on you! Please renew your Greenpeace USA membership for 2022 now in the cleanest, greenest, and most efficient way by making this the year you start a monthly contribution. Your gift will immediately be put to use exposing the dirty dollars being pumped into our democracy and winning impactful victories in all our critical campaigns! Our growing movement can secure groundbreaking climate action at the highest levels, like the Build Back Better Act, if we show politicians we’re too big to ignore! RENEW TODAY Run for Congress as a climate denier, and chances are some fossil fuel companies will contribute to your campaign. Get ELECTED as a climate denier — or even a climate skeptic — and that’s when the dirty money pipeline REALLY starts flowing. They’ve got you just where they want you! In 2021 alone, the fossil fuel industry spent over $83M on lobbying.3 They even sent lobbyists to last year’s COP26 climate conference.4 Oil, gas, and coal companies spent heavily during the 2020 election cycle to keep the Senate under the control of notorious climate denier Mitch McConnell (R-KY) with major oil companies like Valero, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips contributing more than $1 million each to the conservative Senate Leadership Fund.5 They continue to keep the pumps open for their hero, Maserati Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who has accepted the MOST money from fossil fuel companies so far in the 2022 cycle.6 I feel dirty just writing about this level of corruption, especially since it reveals the gross inequities of our American electoral system and our entire democracy. But I feel proud to represent Greenpeace, and I’d be grateful to have your support once again this year. Please renew for 2022 now with a recurring monthly gift to Greenpeace USA. It’s easy, it’s effective, it’s affordable since you choose your monthly gift — and most importantly, it means you’ll speak truth to power each and every month. Thank you for being a part of the solution — not the problem. Janet Redman Climate Change Campaign Director, Greenpeace USA [1] opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?ind=E01&cycle=2022&recipdetail=M&sortorder=U [2] npr.org/2021/07/01/1012138741/exxon-lobbyist-caught-on-video-talks-about-undermining-bidens-climate-push [3] opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php?cycle=2020&ind=E01 [4] cnn.com/2021/11/08/world/cop26-climate-fossil-fuel-lobbying-intl/index.html [5] opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=C00571703&cycle=2020 [6] opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?ind=E01&cycle=2022&recipdetail=M&sortorder=U   Greenpeace 702 H Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20001 | 1-800-722-6995   Greenpeace Inc. is a non-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(4) organization. As a result of our effective work for new environmental policies, contributions are not tax-deductible. Greenpeace USA never takes a dime from corporations or governments. Everything we do is thanks to the generous support of people like you!

These numbers are alarming

The numbers are in, and they’re terrifying. Over the last three years the rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has TRIPLED compared to the three years before.1 Human-caused fires and bulldozers are razing through the Amazon rainforest while land-grabbers and illegal mining are threatening the lives of Indigenous communities. The Brazilian government has misrepresented the damage to the Amazon2 and I’m worried President Biden is buying its greenwashing. But the numbers don’t lie. And neither do the photos … For the sake of the forests, the climate, and the future, I hope you’ll make your year-end gift to Greenpeace USA before our matching gift offer ends. Until Friday, December 31, every dollar you donate will be matched THREE TO ONE, up to $600,000, to make an even greater impact for our planet, so please don’t wait! This isn’t just about Brazil. This is about the whole world. The continued destruction of the Amazon in the midst of a global climate catastrophe puts the entire planet in danger. And while governments and corporations have been making empty promises to stop deforestation for years, not enough has been done. Instead, they’ve allowed large-scale production of livestock and animal feed such as soybeans which are the main drivers of deforestation.3 Brazil’s deforestation and fire numbers are skyrocketing and this destruction is pushing the Amazon to a tipping point — where the ecosystem is no longer able to sustain itself. At the same time, we are seeing Indigenous Peoples and other forest-dependent communities’ lives being threatened by land-grabbers and endangering their livelihoods. And the situation in Brazil is only getting worse. From August 2020 until July 2021, an area of the Brazilian Amazon 17 times the size of New York City has been destroyed by deforestation.4 We can’t let another year go by while this rampant destruction continues. We have to hold world leaders accountable — in Brazil and here in the United States. We need your help to do it. Please make your year-end gift to Greenpeace now while it can be TRIPLE matched. Don’t forget, this offer only lasts until midnight THIS FRIDAY so give now before it’s too late! For the planet and in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples, Diana Ruiz Senior Forests Campaigner, Greenpeace USA [1] greenpeace.org/usa/news/amazon-deforestation-rate-22-higher-than-last-year/ [2] greenpeace.org/usa/no-blank-check-for-enemies-of-the-environment-in-brazil/ [3] greenpeace.org/usa/no-blank-check-for-enemies-of-the-environment-in-brazil/ [4] greenpeace.org/usa/news/amazon-deforestation-rate-22-higher-than-last-year/ Greenpeace 702 H Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20001 | 1-800-722-6995   Greenpeace Inc. is a non-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(4) organization. As a result of our effective work for new environmental policies, contributions are not tax-deductible.

 

Storms a brewing

 

I’ll get right to it: The climate-driven extreme weather events you’re witnessing are being driven by the short-sighted greed of the fossil fuel industry. They are costing billions. And they are costing lives.

Fossil fuel companies won’t stop this on their own. And governments aren’t doing enough to hold them accountable.

But at Greenpeace WE’RE only accountable to the people and the planet. We’ll fight them hard because the future of life is at stake!

There is now $600,000 in matching funds available to quadruple your impact, but only until December 31. Your planet needs you. Make your year-end gift of $20.00 or more to Greenpeace USA today.

You can trust your eyes. You can trust your heart. And you can trust the science. Climate change is fueling extreme weather that is getting more unpredictable, more destructive, and much more intense. And it’s not some distant threat. It’s happening right now in our lifetimes.

This year alone you’ve seen …

• Severe flooding in Nashville, following torrential rains, that killed at least seven people and destroyed dozens of homes …¹
• Another heartbreaking and horrifying wildfire season in California and the Pacific Northwest that is threatening lives and communities and damaging critical forested wildlife habitat …²
• Hurricane Ida which is now the seventh costliest in the last 20 years. Just think of how much good the billions of dollars being spent AFTER these hurricanes on cleanup and recovery could do if we spent it BEFORE the storms on clean energy and climate resiliency!³
• The severe heatwave in the Pacific Northwest. There are places in this country where people never even installed air conditioning in their homes. They didn’t need it! 100+ degree temperatures were all but unknown. Now, they are the new normal.⁴ And it isn’t just heat.
• The polar vortex caused freezing temperatures in the Gulf Coast and Southern Plains where no one living had ever experienced them before. The Texas power grid was shut down for days!⁵

More heat. More cold. More rain. More drought. More hurricanes. More floods. We have more of everything. Except more time. We’re running out.

You have only five days left to have your year-end gift to Greenpeace quadrupled. Please don’t miss your chance. Give now.

The executives at fossil fuel companies can afford to move away from places where the worst impacts of the climate crisis are being felt. But billions of people can’t. They will suffer … and millions may die … unless we stop the reckless burning of oil, gas and coal.

We’re always grateful for your support, but I hope we can count on you again today. Please support this critical fight for our lives, our homes, our planet, and our future. Make your year-end gift to Greenpeace NOW.

In solidarity,

Rolf Skar
Special Project Manager, Greenpeace USA

[1] climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/torrential-spring-rains-lead-flash-flooding-around-nashville-end-march
[2] greenpeace.org/usa/welcome-to-the-2021-california-wildfire-season/
[3] cnbc.com/2021/09/08/hurricane-idas-damage-tally-could-top-95-billion-making-it-7th-costliest-hurricane-since-2000-.html
[4] yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/11/2021-pacific-northwest-heat-wave-virtually-impossible-without-global-warming-scientists-find/
[5] climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/understanding-arctic-polar-vortex

Greenpeace

702 H Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20001 | 1-800-722-6995

 

Greenpeace Inc. is a non-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(4) organization. As a result of our effective work for new environmental policies, contributions are not tax-deductible.

We can’t allow this to begin, and you can help

Greenpeace International activists distrupt new deep sea mining impact testing.

It’s unethical, dangerous, destructive, and wrong!

The deep sea mining industry wants to scrape, slash, and scour the ocean floor, where so much of life begins!

They’re hoping to mine for minerals used in batteries — despite the fact that the industry is shifting to greener batteries that can be recycled and last longer! We can have clean energy and healthy oceans — but not if this IRRESPONSIBLE EXPLOITATION AND DESTRUCTION is allowed to start!

Here’s the good news: the practice of commercial deep sea mining is still not allowed under international law. But we have less than two years left until an obscure United Nations agency¹ could open up the oceans to this destructive industry,² and we have only one week left before the end of the year when our year-end match opportunity expires.

Stopping the imminent launch of commercial deep sea mining is so urgent that another caring partner has just provided an additional $300,000 in matching funds, bringing the total to $600,000 for our matching gift opportunity!

We know greedy corporations are going to fight us tooth and nail (just like they always have) to continue their exploitation of our planet. We need to be prepared to fight back for as long as it takes, that’s why I wanted to be sure you knew that when you start a monthly contribution, your first gift can ALSO be matched — $3 for every $1 — to support our campaigns for the long haul and meet our new $600,000 goal.

When we’re going up against big corporations, we’re relying on the unwavering support of our monthly donors to carry us through. Will you help us rise to this new matching gift challenge by starting a monthly contribution today?

With your support, Greenpeace has been relentlessly documenting the exploitation of our ocean. Corporations have viewed our oceans as the world’s trash can for years, and this new industry will only make matters worse. Put simply, it’s horrifying.

Greedy deep sea mining companies think that just because no one can see down into the depths, we don’t know the harm they’re doing. But we are watching, and we’re holding them accountable!

It seems like there is NOWHERE greedy corporations won’t go and no damage they won’t do to make a buck. From the forests of the Amazon and Indonesia, to the Arctic and the waters off Antarctica, to our local communities and right down to the deep ocean floor, if they see a dollar they’ll dig and destroy until they get it.

They have multi-billion-dollar budgets. We have you. Every dollar that funds our critical campaign — and every dollar funding the $600,000 year-end match — is contributed by friends like you who care about people and the planet. Not from corporations, and not from governments!

Without healthy oceans, our planet won’t survive. We won’t survive. The destruction being planned for the ocean floor is reprehensible, life-threatening and could one day be irreversible if we don’t stop it now.

So please. Don’t let greedy corporations destroy your planet and future. Fight back by starting a monthly contribution to Greenpeace USA now. Thank you!

For our oceans,

Arlo Hemphill
Senior Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace USA

[1] isa.org.jm/
[2] theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/30/deep-sea-mining-could-start-in-two-years-after-pacific-nation-of-nauru-gives-un-ultimatum

Greenpeace

702 H Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20001 | 1-800-722-6995

 

Greenpeace Inc. is a non-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(4) organization. As a result of our effective work for new environmental policies, contributions are not tax-deductible.

 

July 29, 2015

 

This month we’re celebrating 50 years of Greenpeace not with cake and candles, but with a history of in-your-face resistance and victory.

At a time when so many people feel powerless to stop the destruction of our planet, it’s important we remember how our donors, our activists, and our community partners took action to change the world — and change the future. And let’s recommit ourselves to our shared vision of a green and peaceful future for all.

Greenpeace has won many such victories, big and small. But we can’t send you hundreds of emails. So, we’ve selected one moment per decade to share with you. Do you remember this?

It was July 29, 2015. Shell had leased an icebreaker to crack deeper into Arctic waters and set them up for oil drilling in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska. But we met them at St. Johns Bridge in Portland, Oregon. We blocked them. We hung banners and activists over the side to confront them. And the world took notice.

This year, President Biden suspended new leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It’s not the end of this fight, but it’s another powerful reminder — what we do today may ripple for months and even years.

The key is a sustained, UNRELENTING effort. You make that possible as a member of our millions-strong global community, but there’s plenty of work ahead of us as we look toward the next 50 years of Greenpeace. Can you give $20.21 or more a month to help advance our critical grassroots campaigns?

The protest that day in Portland was about saving the Arctic. But it was also about so much more because for five decades, Greenpeacers have fearlessly exposed and confronted environmental abuse — and demanded environmentally responsible solutions.

Bottom line: If we’re going to save our climate — and polar bears, and our planet — we have to stop the greedy, reckless, irresponsible pursuit of fossil fuels.

That’s why we’re working to end fossil fuel subsidies. Instead of giving $15 billion in direct subsidies to private fossil fuel companies, and letting them dig and drill on public lands, let’s invest in renewable energy for our future!

That future is now. The climate crisis is already here. The recent report from the IPCC confirmed what Greenpeace has been saying for years. We could be facing a total planetary collapse if we don’t end fossil fuel use now and accelerate the transition to renewables.

It’s not a fight we can win today. But the actions we take today will set the stage for victory. That’s been the lesson of the last 50 years. We have to keep fighting — month after month.

Please help continue this fight by making your most generous gift to Greenpeace today.

Monthly giving is easy and efficient. You choose the amount, and you choose the account, either credit or debit. It’s ecologically efficient. It saves postage. And it helps our campaigners know that funding will be available!

I enjoy talking about Greenpeace’s history. I’ve been a part of it. And so have you.

There is a lot to celebrate. But we know our most important fight is for our future. And right now, no battle is more urgent than the campaign against climate change. It is, quite literally, the fight of our lives.

Biden needs to do more. Congress needs to do more. And we, all of us, need to do more. Today, right now.

Can you take your support of Greenpeace to the next level by starting a monthly gift? I’d be very grateful if you would.

For the future,

John Noel
Senior Climate Campaigner, Greenpeace USA

P.S. Every gift makes a difference, just like every action makes a difference. We’re grateful for all you do. But what we need most is funding we can count on. Please become a monthly Greenpeace donor today and we’ll put your first gift (and every one after that) straight to work defending our planet.

Streamers float in the wind under the St. Johns Bridge In as activists climbed under the bridge in an attempt to prevent the Shell leased icebreaker, MSV Fennica from joining the rest of Shell's Arctic drilling fleet. According to the latest federal permit, the Fennica must be at Shell’s drill site before Shell can reapply for federal approval to drill deep enough for oil in the Chukchi Sea.

© Tim Aubry / Greenpeace

President Biden: Extinguish the Dumpster Fire 🔥

 

Flaming Dumpster Tours Washington, D.C.

The failure of the Biden Administration to act on plastic pollution is a dumpster fire for the planet. Greenpeace brought a flaming dumpster to tour Washington, D.C. to demand President Biden act on tackling our plastic crisis at home and endorse a Global Plastics Treaty NOW.

The failure of the Biden Administration to act on plastic pollution is a dumpster fire for the planet. 

On Tuesday, Greenpeace brought a flaming dumpster to tour Washington D.C. to demand President Biden act on tackling our plastic crisis at home and endorse a Global Plastics Treaty NOW.  

Don’t worry if you missed it! Join us now for a lookback at the U.S. Plastic Policy Flaming Dumpster Tour. Watch today! 

Stop 1: White House

The first stop was the White House where we delivered an urgent mandate to President Biden: Be a world leader and support an ambitious, binding Global Plastics Treaty before the UN Ministerial Meetings on Sept. 1st.

Right now, the treaty is backed by almost 140 countries, but the United States is still a holdout. We need President Biden to step up to endorse the international agreement today and be a global leader in tackling the plastic pollution crisis. 

Stop 2: State Department 

The second stop was to tell the State Department to stop undermining efforts to end U.S. exports of plastic waste to the Global South.

In January, a global ban on dumping waste on developing countries went into effect — but the United States still hasn’t ratified it. President Biden needs to uphold his promise of environmental justice and act this year to fully implement the Basel Agreement to end the dumping of plastic waste on the Global South. 

Stop 3: DOE

On to the Department of Energy! 

We made a quick stop at the DOE to demand the agency stop throwing more plastic in the dumpster fire. 

99 percent of plastic is made from fossil fuels, but the DOE is backing so-called chemical recycling, a mythical false solution that cannot solve the plastic pollution crisis. It’s time to Break Free from Plastic and put a stop to the petrochemical industry’s expansion plans. 

Stop 4: EPA

The last stop of the tour was the Environmental Protection Agency (arguably the hottest dumpster fire in the past five years). 

Toxic chemicals are regularly added to plastic used for packaging, and can leach into our food and drinks. The EPA seems more worried about offending their friends in the petrochemical industry than in keeping people safe.  

It is time for the EPA to get serious about protecting us from chemicals that can cause cancer, birth defects, or immune deficiencies. That’s why we want to end our tour with a clear mandate for EPA Administrator, Michael Regan, and President Biden: The planet cannot wait for comprehensive U.S. and global policy to address the plastic and climate crisis. 

Thank you to the almost 25,000 supporters who have already used their voices to demand President Biden endorse a Global Plastic Treaty. Watch the video and add your name to demand President Biden act now to solve the plastic pollution crisis. 

John Hocevar,
Oceans Director, Greenpeace USA 
 

Greenpeace never takes a dime from corporations or governments. Everything we do is thanks to the generous support of people like you!

We can’t keep doing this

 

When we heard about the hurricane barreling toward Louisiana on Sunday, our first thought was for the people, communities, and natural systems in its path. We hope they will be OK! Our second thought is a powerful sense of déjà vu. Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people and caused over $176 billion in damage, was exactly 16 years ago on Sunday. In the years since Katrina, climate change has only intensified. Severe and unstable weather is the new normal, and lives and property are at risk like never before. We can’t keep living like this. We can’t keep driving into the eye of the storm like we don’t know what’s coming. We can see *exactly* what’s coming! The question is, are we going to DO something about it? It’s time for the United States to back away from the brink and start saving our climate, our planet, and potentially our lives! Please support Greenpeace USA today with an emergency gift of $20.00 or more. Help support all our critical leadership on climate, renewable energy, and planet sustainability … including our work to push Congress to END fossil fuel subsidies! This time, they’re telling us New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are “better prepared” than they were 16 years ago. I hope they’re right — but it’s not just Louisiana that needs to be prepared. More frequent and larger hurricanes. Hotter and faster-moving wildfires. More severe and longer lasting droughts. And rising sea levels that may start swallowing up low-lying cities like Miami … and New Orleans. Meanwhile, fossil fuel companies have received over $15 billion in tax-payer funded subsidies every year — money that could have been invested in renewable energy infrastructure and climate adaptation. As a nation, we could be on the path to phasing out fossil fuel production by now. And if we’d worked with other countries around the world to solve the climate crisis, we might not be in the mess we’re in. It’s not too late to invest in solving this crisis. But it will be soon. Every day we waste is another day we place our cities, our people, and our future at risk. Please make your gift to Greenpeace NOW. Tropical storms, hurricanes, and other severe weather events aren’t anomalies. They are part of a dangerous pattern. Think about the terrifying megafires that are still burning out west, along with the wildfires now in Northern Minnesota. Think about the deadly flooding in Tennessee, which could find itself in the path of this new storm depending on which way it breaks. We don’t want more people to lose their lives. We don’t want more homes and communities to be destroyed. And we don’t want a million animal and plant species to be driven to extinction! But if we do nothing, that’s the reality. Only we can change it. What if, instead of only investing in rebuilding after disasters, our government invested NOW in building more wind, solar, and a resilient electricity system? What if, instead of giving the fossil fuel industry over $15 billion annually in subsidies, Congress tried spending that money on climate resiliency, or subsidizing the production of clean, green, sustainable energy? What if, THIS TIME, the U.S. got smart — for a change. As you hold your breath for the people of Louisiana and watch the weather reports, keep this in mind: We know how to solve this crisis. We know how to lower carbon emissions and begin restabilizing our planet. The question is, will we? Will you help lead the way? Sincerely, Janet Redman Climate Campaign Director, Greenpeace USA P.S. Sixteen years after Katrina, Louisiana could be back in the path of another powerful storm. We hope it will move out to sea, and lives will be spared! But until we solve this crisis it’s ALWAYS going to be a matter of time until the next big one hits. Is that the way we’re going to keep on living? Or are we going to take action? Please make your emergency gift to Greenpeace NOW so we can keep fighting — together — for a green and peaceful future for all. Greenpeace USA never takes a dime from corporations or governments. Everything we do is thanks to the generous support of people like you!