PALM OIL ACTION IN FINLAND - ANOTHER GREENPEACE PROTEST...


Before most of us even had our first cup of coffee this morning, 32 activists from Finland and Sweden were up and taking action at a palm oil diesel refinery in Porvoo, Finland. Neste Oil, an oil refining company that is largely owned by the Finnish government, has plans to rapidly expand over the next three years - to become the world’s largest consumer of palm oil.
Palm oil production is the leading cause of deforestation in Southeast Asia. Rainforests and peatlands are cleared and burned to make way for palm oil plantations releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxiode. This destructive practice is the leading reason why Indonesia is now the third largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. If that doesn’t sound bad enough we can also blame this rampant deforestation for pushing species like the orang-utan and the Sumatran tiger to the brink of extinction.

The activists will be at the plant as long as they can demanding that Neste Oil stop contributing to forest destruction that is contributing to climate change. Do your part and join them in the action. Send a letter to Neste Oil and ask them to stop using palm oil in NExBTL diesel and to instead find a sustainable raw material before putting their planned NExBTL refineries into operation.

Neste Oil uses palm oil as the main component of the NExBTL-diesel and markets it as an environmentally-friendly alternative to fossil fuels. This ‘green’ marketing contradicts the warnings that climate scientists issued last year that palm oil grown on deforested land is many times more damaging to the climate than conventional fuels.

Update:

All 32 activists at a palm oil diesel refinery in Porvoo, Finland have been arrested by police. 6 of the activists have already ben released and we are waiting for the release of the remaining activists.

Do your part. Join these brave activists and take action - Send a letter to Neste Oil and ask them to stop using palm oil in NExBTL diesel and to instead find a sustainable raw material before putting their planned NExBTL refineries into operation.

Greenpeace protest

A NEW ROLE FOR THE GLOBAL HAWK DRONE SPYPLANE AIRCRAFT - FROM DEFENSE TO NASA'S SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PROGRAMS...


There is a new role for the Global Hawk drone aircraft - two aircraft were transfered to Nasa in September 2007, after the United States Air Force decided they had no further use for the pre-production aircraft which were among the first seven constructed during the Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program that was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

These were the world's first fully autonomous, high altitude, long endurance unmanned aerial system (drones) Global Hawks can fly up to 65,000 feet for more than 31 hours at a time. For example, they would be able to sample greenhouse gases responsible for ozone depletion and verify Nasa's aura atmosphere research satelitte.

The Global Hawks has been supporting the USAF in the global war on terror providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnnaisance in recent years. They were better known for their work as drone aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Global Hawks have a new role and many potential applications for the advancement of science, improved hurricane monitoring, development of disaster support capabilities and advanced UAS technologies.

During October 2007 Global Hawks were used for the first time to monotor wildfires in southern California.

Read more here