Greenpeace Blog

Southern Ocean scenes

Posted by jossc — 4 January 2008 at 5:29pm - Comments

Still no contact as yet between our ship Esperanza and the Japanese whaling fleet as the Espy heads further and further south on her mission to save as many minkes as possible from the whalers' harpoons. She's passing through some of the most glorious and unpolluted seascapes this world has to offer at the moment, though, and our photographers have been out and about in inflatables to capture the magic, so I thought I'd share a few with you.

esperanza in southern ocean

Wow factor: In this shot it's hard not to be impressed by the sheer size of this ice cliff rising almost verically out of the sea.

Article tagged as: albatross, humpback whale, japan, my esperanza, oceans, Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, whaling

New Trident too big for subs

Posted by jossc — 4 January 2008 at 2:13pm - Comments

Reported in Scotland's Sunday Herald just before Christmas (but not seen by me until a few days ago, hence the delay in passing it on) was a tale to gladden the hearts of peaceniks everywhere - namely that the latest upgrade to the US designed Trident D5 nuclear missiles may not actually fit into British submarines.

Clearly falling well within the parameters of the "you couldn't make it up" school of classic cock-ups, the Herald reported that tender documents for future underwater-launched nuclear missiles issued by the US Navy last November specify a missile diameter of up to 120 inches. The diameter of Trident's D5 missile tubes is 87 inches.

Article tagged as: nuclear, nuclear weapons, peace, trident, WMDs

Industry insiders give Brown a drubbing on nuclear

Posted by bex — 4 January 2008 at 12:53pm - Comments

See all updates about nuclear power.

We've been banging on about the sham nuclear 'consultation' for ages now, but today 17 scientists, academics and nuclear industry insiders piled into the debate, giving Gordon Brown a drubbing over well, pretty much everything to do with nuclear power.

I wanted to share a few highlights from their report but the arguments are so compelling I just couldn't stop cutting and pasting. So here, have more quotes about nuclear power than you can shake a stick at, or read the full report for yourself at www.nuclearconsult.com:

"An accumulating public sense of a lack of independence and a lack of transparency behind government initiatives in this area, and a hidden industry agenda belittling the problems seem to emit a strong whiff of mortgaging the long-term future to short-term interests. The issue is one of trust in government..."

Dr Paul Dorfman, University of Warwick
Prof Brian Wynne, University of Lancaster

Article tagged as: climate change, nuclear power, public consultations

The problem with carbon capture and storage (CCS)

Posted by bex — 3 January 2008 at 3:50pm - Comments

E.ON is arguing for its new coal plant on the basis that it will include carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. So, is CCS is a silver bullet? Or is it just another false solution, touted by an industry desperately trying to stay relevant in a carbon constrained world?

CCS is a means of separating out carbon dioxide when burning fossil fuels, and then dumping it - underground, or else at or under the sea bed.

CCS isn't commercially viable; there are no commercially operating CCS plants in the world. And for all the industry's obfuscation, the new plant at Kingsnorth won't be able to capture and store carbon; it will just be ready to incorporate CCS should the technology ever become viable in the future.

Article tagged as: CCS, clean coal, climate change, coal, kingsnorth

New coal: the battlelines are drawn

Posted by bex — 3 January 2008 at 11:15am - Comments

Coal fired power plant

It will be the UK's first new coal fired power plant in 34 years. It will emit as much carbon dioxide as the 30 least polluting nations in the world combined. And the world's leading climate scientist has called it "a tipping point for the world".

The proposal for a new coal-fired power plant at Kingsnorth in Kent has been given the go-ahead by Medway Council. At a meeting last night, only three of the 16 councillers objected to E.ON's application, meaning that the plant - which will generate electricity in the most climate-wrecking way known to humankind - has been approved, potentially starting a new coal rush in the UK.

Article tagged as: climate change, coal, energy, kingsnorth

Humpbacks safe - for now

Posted by jossc — 2 January 2008 at 3:34pm - Comments

A majestic humpback whale off the coast of Tonga

The Japanese government has confirmed a rumour first reported at the Greenpeace weblog, that they've abandoned plans to kill humpback whales in the Southern Ocean this season.

The fact that no humpback whales will be hunted down and killed in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary this year is good news indeed, and a victory for Greenpeace supporters the world over who have joined with us in demanding action from their governments, participated in promoting non-lethal alternatives to whale research through our Great Whale Trail, and questioned the Japanese government directly about plans to expand the whale hunt through the building of a new whaling ship. (Oh, and all of you who told your friends to vote for Mister Splashy Pants in our whale-naming competition, you did your part too.)

Article tagged as: fin whale, humpback whale, japan, minke whale, oceans, Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, whaling

Our top ten stories of 2007

Posted by bex — 2 January 2008 at 2:14pm - Comments

2007 is being hailed as the year in which the environmental movement turned a corner and climate change leapt to the top of the agenda. Al Gore and the IPCC won the Nobel Peace Prize; Climate Camp became a household name; and an unsuspecting humpback whale named Mister Splashy Pants became a global phenomenon.

So what were you most interested in? This list of our ten most-read blogs on our website last year (well, since we launched the blog in April) shows, unsurprisingly, that for most of our readers, it was climate change, climate change, climate change. Oh, and Mister Splashy Pants...

1. The Convenient Solution

The energy debate ruled a lot of 2007, and our film on nuclear power vs decentralised energy was far and away our most popular blog of the year, with around three times more traffic than any other story. With the government about to make its announcement on nuclear (again), the debate's as relevant now as it was then - so it's worth a watch if you haven't seen it yet.

Article tagged as: 2007, climate change, energy, mister splashy pants, solutions

Heathrow expansion: advice on consultation submissions

Posted by jossc — 2 January 2008 at 12:53pm - Comments

The Heathrow expansion consultation is a complete sham and a blatant stitch up from start to finish - it excludes any consideration of the most important issue - climate change - and is essentially a cosmetic exercise to allow the government to implement a decision they have already made with a pretence of having consulted with stakeholders. There are other ways of trying to influence this issue which we feel are far more likely to be effective, and you can find them by visiting our Stop Heathrow Expansion homepage.

Article tagged as: airport expansion, aviation, climate change, co2 emissions, heathrow

Climate message in a bottle

Posted by bex — 2 January 2008 at 12:40pm - Comments

Back in November, we launched a collaborative video project, asking people from around the world to join in and create a video sending the message to Bali that we want action, not more hot air.

Here's the result (and you can watch all the submissions here):

Article tagged as: bali, climate change, videos

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