September 2010

With the Liberal Democrats' first conference since they entered government looming later this week, we commissioned a poll to see how party members are feeling about Trident replacement. Not surprisingly, given that the party campaigned on scrapping 'like for like' replacement during the election campaign, not many are in favour.

The first Greenpeace ship - the Phyllis Cormack - in 1971 © Greenpeace / Robert Keziere

Today is the 39th birthday of Greenpeace and we have just arrived in Aberdeen on the Esperanza. Back in 1971 on September 15th, the first Greenpeace ship set sail to protest against a US nuclear test zone and peacefully prevent the destruction of Amchitka, a pristine island ecosystem off the coast of Alaska. They didn't make it all the way to Amchitka but what followed was a wave of public support that ultimately shut down the US nuclear testing program, won Amchitka designation as a wildlife sanctuary and gave birth to the Greenpeace movement.

Serendipitously, we have just returned to the UK on Greenpeace's birthday from a mission to the Arctic where we peacefully stopped offshore drilling for 40 hours to minimise the chances of an oil strike before drilling stops for the winter. But while Cairn Energy continues dangerous drilling in the Arctic, we're hoping that together with our supporters we've helped to catalyse the movement to go beyond oil. 

If you're on London's South Bank over the next few weeks, watch out for a new open air exhibition featuring the work of regular Greenpeace photographer Jiri Rezac. He's been to the tar sands works in Canada and the images he's brought back clearly show the extent of the devastation caused by this insane venture to both the environment and local populations.

The slideshow above is just a taste of Jiri's work featured in the exhibition which you can see near City Hall by Tower Bridge until 14 October. It will then be touring around the UK - details are still to be confirmed but check the Tarnished Earth website for updates. 

Today's media is full of stories about defence cuts. They come on the back of a parliamentary Defence Committee report which accuses the government of rushing the defence review and being preoccupied with cost-cutting - rather than dealing with the real threats Britain faces.

I've been at sea for five weeks now and can't wait to set foot on terra firma again and do all the things I've been missing. When I am on land I dream of being at sea and now I'm at sea - I can't stop thinking about getting back on land even though the Go Beyond Oil expedition has been really exciting so far.

In these next two episodes, actress Marion Cottilard continues her journey through the Congo rainforest. Here, she sees first hand the wreckage left behind by the logging companies working in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As we've heard many times before, the companies get permission to log from the local villages by promising to build schools and clinics, but these often never materialise and if they do, they're hopelessly inadequate. Or logging rights are sold for salt, beer and soap when the timber fetches thousands of dollars.