Greenpeace Activist News Vol. 2, No. 7

Tuesday, 10 December 2002, 2:56 pm
Press Release: Greenpeace New Zealand

Greenpeace Activist News Vol. 2, No. 7

In this issue, Dow and Bhopal, a victory for safe food, the latest on oil tankers, a new Exxon poster from Adbusters and an opportunity for the Webby awards.

DOW AND BHOPAL

A message from Greenpeace web editor Tom Dowdall:

I have just returned from 3 weeks in India working with the survivors of the 1984 Bhopal poison gas disaster that killed 20 thousand people - the world's worst industrial accident. To witness, firsthand, their strength, resilience and commitment to make sure their plight is not forgotten was amazing - from the enthusiastic support shown in our action to clean up the abandoned Union Carbide (now Dow) factory and the spontaneous protest at the rough police treatment, through the vocal, passionate march on the Dow Indian headquarters to the large demonstration to remember the disaster on the Anniversary.

Find out about the last few weeks and the campaign in news, pictures, audio and video here:

http://www.greenpeace.org/campaigns/intro?campaign_id=3991

I'll be participating in this week's Cybercentre open house on Bhopal so you can post your questions there and remember you can help maintain the new sense of optimism in Bhopal that finally after 18 years of neglect their situation, with the help of the concerned people around the globe, may just be about to change for the better.

Tom

You can join in the Bhopal open house here:

http://act.greenpeace.org/1039458474

More than 6000 Greenpeace cyberactivists have already written to Dow on this issue. If you haven't sent a letter yet, or want to reply to their form letter automatic responses, you can send a letter to Dow from here:

http://act.greenpeace.org/ams/e?a=Bhopal&s=blue2

We'll be putting up a new website on Dow and Bhopal by the end of the week. Check the open house link above for more information.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A VICTORY FOR SAFE FOOD

Since genetically modified foods hit the markets, consumers have asked for labeling of products that contain GE ingredients. We have not been able to make this fundamental choice to eat genetically modified organisms or not because we often cannot tell what products contain GE ingredients and which do not. Now the European Union is leading the way with the strictest labeling requirements in the world for genetically modified food and consumers will have a choice.

All GE food and food ingredients, including highly processed derivatives such as sugar, refined oil and starch, produced from genetically modified organisms, will have to be clearly labeled. Another separate new regulation will set up a thorough 'traceability' system in order to follow food and food ingredients consisting of, containing or produced from genetically modified organisms across all stages of the food processing and distribution chain through to the final product.

This decision proves that consumers, when asserting their rights, can win against the most powerful corporate lobbies. The most important practical effect of this new regulation is that no genetically modified food will be able to enter the European market unlabelled.

Thank you to the 2500 European cyberactivists who wrote to their agriculture ministers opposing seed contamination.

For more information, see this story:

http://greenpeace.org/news/details?news%5fid=79753

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OIL TANKER DISAPPOINTMENT

European transport ministers failed to immediately ban single hull oil tankers at a recent meeting in Brussels. While the European Union agreed to ban single hulled vessels transporting heavy fuel from its ports, it is up to each EU member state to decide when the ban takes effect.

Greenpeace activists simulated an oil spill at EU Headquarters and using approximately 300 litres of oil waste and residue brought from the Prestige oil disaster. Activists dressed as oil-stained birds held signs for the ministers saying Act Now.

For more information, click on:

http://www.greenpeace.org/press/release?press_id=84482

You can participate in the oil tanker discussion here:

http://act.greenpeace.org/1037731467

You can join the 14 thousand people who have written to the International Maritime Organization here:

http://act.greenpeace.org/ams/e?a=imo1&s=fsh

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EXXON POSTER

The wonderful anti-corporate campaign organisation Adbusters has introduced a new Exxon parody poster here:

http://adbusters.org/creativeresistance/spoofads/misc/esso/

You can download a high resolution PDF version here:

http://adbusters.org/campaigns/got_oil/downloads/poster.html

Read all about the StopEsso campaign here:

http://www.stopesso.org

To join the StopEsso campaign, go here:

http://www.stopesso.org/m?st=0

To write a letter to the ExxonMobil board, go here:

http://act.greenpeace.org/ams/e?a=esso_board&s=blue2

To take personal action with your own Exxon banner, visit:

http://www.stopesso.org/posting/1035909130

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WEBBY AWARDS

Do you know about the Webby awards? What Oscars are to the movies, Webby Awards are to websites. They have an "activism" category which recognises the best designed and most effective sites dedicated to environmentalism and social change. We're big believers that the power and creativity of activism on the web needs to be recognised, and encourage you to submit your favourite sites as nominees. There's a charge for nomination, but Greenpeace Cyberactivists get a 10% discount. Just enter the following Greenpeace code, GP-021969, during the registration at:

http://www.webbyawards.com/main/submit/index.html

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