Climate Control On the eve of Earth Day 50, Greenpeace USA finds itself more than ever laser-focused on tackling climate change.
GREENPEACE
By John Riley
A
LL THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT WANTS IS to take care of our planet and to make sure we have a livable planet for future generations,” says Crystal Mojica, a senior communications specialist at Greenpeace USA. “We just want to make sure that our kids and people who are currently inhabiting this planet can take care of it so that subsequently people can live in it in the future and that we fight to maintain it.” Mojica’s rhetoric strikes the right chord with most people, yet critics often cast Greenpeace’s headline-grabbing stunts — intended to call attention to specific issues — as dangerous or “extreme.” Among the demonstrations undertaken by the organization include activists who rappelled from a bridge in 20
APRIL 16, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM
Portland, Ore., in 2015 to block a Shell Oil icebreaker that was being used to drill for oil in Arctic waters. That same year, Greenpeace led a successful campaign against Procter & Gamble over its relationships with companies that were harvesting palm oil in an unsustainable manner — a process that was leading to mass deforestation in Indonesia and disrupting the natural habitats of the animals there. In that protest, a demonstrator in a tiger suit suspended themselves on a high wire in between two banners that were unfurled along the front of buildings at the company’s corporate headquarters in Cincinnati. Greenpeace has also held “die-ins” to protest the danger of nuclear weapons, held marches and demonstrations to attempt
