Greenpeace doesn't give a damn about the environment.

[George Wallace]

Here is proof that Greenpeace really doesn't give a damn about saving the environment.  Proof that they are just no minds seeking attention, with no real plan to back their ideals and no concept of what conservation or environmental protection really is.

Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.

This Greenpeace Stunt May Have Irreparably Damaged Peru's Nazca Site

The Peruvian government is planning to file criminal charges against Greenpeace activists who may have permanently scarred the Nazca Lines World Heritage Site during a publicity stunt.

As The Guardian reports, the Nazca lines "are huge figures depicting living creatures, stylized plants and imaginary figures scratched on the surface of the ground between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago." The figures, which can only be seen from the air, are believed to have had ritual functions related to astronomy.

The ground around the site is so sensitive and so sacred that Peru has even forbidden presidents and top officials to walk where the Greenpeace activists went. Peru's Deputy Culture Minister told the BBC: "You walk there, and the footprint is going to last hundreds or thousands of years." Tourists generally get to see the site from the air, or, on rare occasions, are equipped with special foot gear.

"They are absolutely fragile. They are black rocks on a white background. You walk there and the footprint is going to last hundreds or thousands of years," said the minister. "And the line that they have destroyed is the most visible and most recognized of all."

Several Greenpeace activists entered into the prohibited area beside the figure of a hummingbird where they laid big yellow cloth letters reading: "Time for Change! The Future is Renewable." They were also sure to leave a signature. The message was intended for delegates from 190 countries at the UN climate talks being held in Lima.

Peru is planning to file criminal charges against the activists before they leave the country.

Yesterday, Greenpeace apologized for the stunt, saying it was sorry if the protest at the historical site on Monday caused an "moral offense" to the Peruvian people. The environmental activist group said it would collaborate with the government to determine if any damage was done to the site, and that it would stop using photos of the protest in its campaigns. Greenpeace is also sending its Executive Director Kumi Naidoo to Lima to apologize in person to the Peruvian government.

Photos on LINK.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

'Greenpeace' not 'Greenpiece'

 

[George Wallace]

'Greenpeace' not 'Greenpiece'

;D

Love Spell Check. 

Corrected, even if they are pieces of work.  ;D

 

[Kilo_302]

I agree that this stunt was a terrible idea, and in poor taste. However, I don't think you can go as far as saying "they don't care about the environment."  You get idiots in all walks of life, and PR disasters at all organizations.

 

[George Wallace]

I agree that this stunt was a terrible idea, and in poor taste. However, I don't think you can go as far as saying "they don't care about the environment."  You get idiots in all walks of life, and PR disasters at all organizations.

I will say that they don't give a damn about the environment.  That is my opinion of them.  They are a bunch of attention whores who cause more damage than protect.  This is probably their worse example, and it was not just one or two "Nutjobs", but dozens.  Other examples of their causing damage and endangering lives are often in the news, with their ramming of trawlers and other sea going vessels. 

I am entitled to my opinion that they are attention whores, a nuisance and have no true concept of protecting the environment.  You are entitled to have a different opinion.  I also am of the opinion that the likes of David Suzuki and Neil Young are hypocrites, but that is only vaguely related to this topic. 

 

[cupper]

Here's hoping that they spend a significant amount of time in a Peruvian prison.

 

[jollyjacktar]

They're right up there with PETA.  Can't wait to see they dynamite the Sphinx or something similar.  Arseholes of the lowest order.

 

[SupersonicMax]

This is not a proof that they don't care about the environment since what they did has 0 impact on the environment.  Saying they don't care about our World Heritage would be more accurate...

Not that I condone or endorse Greenpeace, but we have to be precise in our assessment.

 

[George Wallace]

This is not a proof that they don't care about the environment since what they did has 0 impact on the environment. 

Actually:

"They are absolutely fragile. They are black rocks on a white background. You walk there and the footprint is going to last hundreds or thousands of years," said the minister. "And the line that they have destroyed is the most visible and most recognized of all."

That is an impact on the environment.  Just as walking across the dunes in PEI has an impact on the environment by killing the fragile grass that hold the dunes together.  They ignorantly chose to protest in an area that was protected with restricted access to protect that rare ecological phenomenon. 

 

[SupersonicMax]

But it's a little exagerated to say they hate the environment for that don't you? 

This has no real environmental effects.  I'd argue that driving your car to work everyday or them using their boats to protest have a far greater global environmental effect... 

 

[a_majoor]

Greenpeace cares about Greenpeace and the donations that flow to them from uninformed but well meaning people who think Greenpeace does something "for" the environment. Period.

If you want to support groups which actually care for and preserve/protect the environment, then look for hands on groups which live and work in the environments they protect. Groups like Ducks Unlimited, for example, have a vested interest in the lands they protect and the resources they are preserving/conserving. Most hunting groups I have encountered are like that (and in case anyone thinks I am being partisan, I don't hunt).

This is much like the difference between faith based charities and government welfare: the churches that provide charity get to know the people they are helping, while the bureaucrats who run welfare services see their "clients" as the source of their job, and their incentives are not geared towards actually reducing poverty or getting people off welfare. Greenpeace's incentive is to maximize publicity IOT get those donations.

 

[George Wallace]

But it's a little exagerated to say they hate the environment for that don't you? 

This has no real environmental effects.  I'd argue that driving your car to work everyday or them using their boats to protest have a far greater global environmental effect...

Hating the environment and not giving a damn about the environment are two different things.  Their actions prove over and over again that they really don't give a damn.  They don't give a damn about the environment.  They don't give a damn about personal, public, nor corporate property.  They flaunt the Law.  Really?  They are just a group that is set on disruption more than improving the world order and environment.

As for the harm they may have done to the ecosystem; are you a Biologist or in any way one of the many other environmental experts to say what harm they have not done?

 

[cryco]

Hey George, you probably meant to say they "flout" the law.

 

[SupersonicMax]

George,

I am not a biologist but I am not the one that argues that walking on old dirt is harmful for the environment...

Having said that, I am firmly against Greenpeace as an organization and agree that all they care about is themselve....

 

[Jarnhamar]

George,

I am not a biologist but I am not the one that argues that walking on old dirt is harmful for the environment...

Having said that, I am firmly against Greenpeace as an organization and agree that all they care about is themselve....

The government of Peru seemed to take a pretty big issue with it.

Technically speaking driving your car to work hurts the environment more than what Greenpeace did but they did violate some rules and damaged the heritage site.

Greenpeace cares for the environment like abortion clinic bombers and doctor murderers care for human life.

I hope the people involved are arrested and thrown in jail for a long time.

 

[SupersonicMax]

No question this is criminal.  But it doesn't have any impact on the environment. 

It'd be akin to painting graffiti on the Egyptian Pyramids...

 

[cupper]

No question this is criminal.  But it doesn't have any impact on the environment. 

It'd be akin to painting graffiti on the Egyptian Pyramids...

Max:

It does have an impact on the environment. Not on a global or regional perspective, but within the immediate area it does. There is great concern that with deforestation that is taking place within the region of the Nazca Desert that the effects of erosion from the infrequent storms blowing in off the Pacific is starting to have an effect on the lines. They are only shallow depressions 4" to 12" deep and are sensitive to any erosive forces, either from winds or flooding from rainstorms. There has been an influx of squatters in the region that have caused damage as well, both through moving across the ground areas, and through cutting of trees for fuel.

Someone, I think George used the example of the PEI dunes. Same thing. I saw similar issues on a trip I made this summer on the Cape Cod National Seashore. Dunes that were damaged from people walking off the main pathways and trampling the vegetation. Wind driven erosion opened up a gap in the dunes, which cause sever flooding in the areas behind when a n'or easter moved up the coast. Similar concerns on some of the trails in Gros Morne, where thousands of years of plant life gaining a toe hold can be devastated simply by straying off the marked trail.

So, although it may not seem that walking through "old dirt" had any effect on the local environment, and I can certainly see how people could believe that to be the case; it does in fact have an impact.

 

[SupersonicMax]

Cupper,

You are telling me that a couple people trespassing into a World Heritage (I am strictly talking about the reported incident) site to put a message will help deforestation in the region to a level that we should be worried about?  A little extreme, no?

I think the outrage should be in the fact that they have little to no respect for recognized World Heritage Sites...

 

[cupper]

No, what I am saying is that there are other issues and concerns which are causing erosion damage to the lines. Deforestation by local squatters is only one of the problems.

Greenpeace activists coming in and disturbing the soils within the area of the lines adds to the erosion problem and eventual loss of the lines.

 

[George Wallace]

One more time:

The ground around the site is so sensitive and so sacred that Peru has even forbidden presidents and top officials to walk where the Greenpeace activists went. Peru's Deputy Culture Minister told the BBC: "You walk there, and the footprint is going to last hundreds or thousands of years." Tourists generally get to see the site from the air, or, on rare occasions, are equipped with special foot gear.

"They are absolutely fragile. They are black rocks on a white background. You walk there and the footprint is going to last hundreds or thousands of years," said the minister. "And the line that they have destroyed is the most visible and most recognized of all."

Enviromental damage to a frigile eco system.