Greenpeace

Radical Environmental Agenda

Greenpeace's ideology and activism are firmly rooted in the idea of radical environmentalism, which emerged in the 1960s as an alternative to mainstream and more conservative environmental organizations and practices such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air and Water Act. Radical environmentalism champions the use of sabotage and guerrilla campaigns to achieve its goals. Greenpeace's activism can also be viewed within the scope of deep ecology, an environmental philosophy that argues that humankind is an integral part of—and not separate from—the larger ecosystem and that all living things have an equal right to flourish. To that end, Greenpeace and other radical environmentalist organizations seek to protect the Earth from humankind's increasing encroachment on, and abuses of, the natural world.

Greenpeace's origins trace back to the antiwar and peace movements of the 1960s. The Don't Make a Wave Committee, founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1969, attempted to stop a U.S. nuclear test on Amchitka Island in Alaska. The committee chartered a ship, the Phyllis Cormack, which was renamed Greenpeace for the campaign, and confronted a U.S. Navy vessel, hoping to stop the test. The ship was ultimately forced to turn back. While the Don't Make a Wave Committee's initial campaign was unsuccessful, its methods and goals continued with the formation of Greenpeace in 1971.

Climate change is Greenpeace's major focus, which the organization considers to be the greatest threat to the environment. At the forefront of the battle against climate change for many years, Greenpeace has called for a reduction in greenhouse gases through the use of renewable energy, better utilization of energy efficiencies, and the end of deforestation. The organization hopes that, in part due to its efforts, global emissions will be close to nonexistent by 2050. Greenpeace also calls upon developed nations to cut their emissions by at least 40 percent by 2020.

Greenpeace believes in direct action campaigns, which not only focus media attention on environmental issues but also attempt to force change by directly confronting what the organization perceives to be perpetrators of immoral or illegal acts against the environment. Direct action can take many forms, including nonviolent demonstrations, civil disobedience, or the use of violence. For example, in their fight to curb global warming and dependence on nonrenewable fossil [Page 339]fuels, Greenpeace activists have occupied several coal plants in an attempt to stop production and shipping of coal from nations such as Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Greenpeace also has a fleet of five ships, such as the Rainbow Warrior, which are used to confront nuclear test sites and whaling vessels on the oceans.

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