By: Megan Stransky Nancy Joyce Janell Johnson Dano Ferons

Environmentalist Groups vs. Radical Environmentalist Groups

Environmentalist Groups

Earth Watch The Sierra Club

Radical Environmentalist Groups

Earth Liberation Front Earth First!

ELF attacks U.S. Forest Service Research Facility in Irvine, PA Press Release 3sep02 The ELF Press Office received the following communiqué September 01, 2002: The Earth Liberation Front is claiming responsibility for the 8/11/02 arson attack on the United States Forest Service Northeast Research Station in Irvine, Pennsylvania.

The laboratory was set ablaze during the early morning hours, causing over $700,000 damage, and destroying part of 70 years worth of research. This lesson in "prescribed fire" was a natural, necessary response to the threats posed to life in the Allegheny Forest by proposed timber sales, oil drilling, and greed driven manipulation of Nature.

This facility was strategically targeted, and if rebuilt, will be targeted again for complete destruction. Furthermore, all other U.S. Forest Service administration and research facilities, as well as all DCNR buildings nationwide should now be considered likely targets.

These agencies continue to ignore and mislead the public, at the bidding of their corporate masters, leaving us with no alternative to underground direct action. Their blatant disregard for the sanctity of life and its perfect Natural balance, indifference to strong public opposition, and the irrevocable acts of extreme violence they perpetrate against the Earth daily are all inexcusable, and will not be tolerated. If they persist in their crimes against life, they will be met with maximum retaliation.

In pursuance of justice, freedom, and equal consideration for all innocent life across the board, segments of this global revolutionary movement are no longer limiting their revolutionary potential by adhering to a flawed, inconsistent "non-violent" ideology. While innocent life will never be harmed in any action we undertake, where it is necessary, we will no longer hesitate to pick up the gun to implement justice, and provide the needed protection for our planet that decades of legal battles, pleading, protest, and economic sabotage have failed so drastically to achieve.

The diverse efforts of this revolutionary force cannot be contained, and will only continue to intensify as we are brought face to face with the oppressor in inevitable, violent confrontation. We will stand up and fight for our lives against this iniquitous civilization until its reign of TERROR is forced to an end - by any means necessary.

In defense of all life, Pacific E.L.F.

Contact: North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office [email protected] http://www.earthliberationfront.com

Earth Liberation Front

ELF: destroy luxury homes, SUVs, private property Marxist & Anarchist belief system that does not accept right of private property ownership Private Property laws are instrumental in American Capitalist society

Vail Resort Arson, October 1998

October 19,1998: arson destroyed and damaged $12 million worth of chairlifts and mountain buildings, “in the name of the lynx” Was a calculated attack because it was the same day a controversial construction project was about to begin into old growth forest on federally owned land Email received days later from ELF claiming credit for the fire to protect a rare species whose habitat was disappearing All of the buildings destroyed have been rebuilt. The gases emitted from the fires, the clean up costs, and the cost and environmental impact of a whole new construction site is more destructive than having left the ski resort as it stood.

Examples of other acts of terrorism: 1.

$1 million arson at Boise Cascades NW Regional Headquarters in 1999 2.

3.

$1 mill at US Forest Service Research Station in Pennsylvania, 2002 1.

Ruined 70 years worth of research $1 million worth of damages by setting fire to three luxury homes in Snohomish, WA. Arrests: Chelsea Dawn Gerlach Confessed and was sentenced to nine years in prison for committing acts of terrorism by setting fire and topping a high voltage transmission line in December 1999. Pleaded guilty to conspiracy and arson in string of 20 fires, that did $40 mil of damage, including the Vail Resort Arson.

Kevin Tubbs 12 years 7 months in prison for arson of a forest ranger station, police substation, dealership selling SUVs, and a tree farm. Pleaded guilty to conspiracy arson charges for string of 20 fires, including the Vail Resort

Injury and Death

Although there has never been an injury or death stemming from an ELF action, it repaired. This

can

happen regardless how carefully things are planned in advance. A critical evaluation of past ELF actions exposes the obvious: arson is a dangerous and unpredictable strategy that can get out of control very easily. Even if the attack does not injure or kill an innocent person, there are no winners. Torching sport utility vehicles, ski resorts, research labs and McMansions, releases huge amounts of toxic gasses into the atmosphere - creating far more greenhouse gasses than if they were left alone. The end result: everything is rebuilt, replaced or

DOUBLES

the burden on the environment and taxpayers! An exercise in futility and self-defeat.

"Built Green? Nope black!" said the spray painted sign that bore the initials of the radical environmental group Earth Liberation Front. Four multimillion dollar homes burned to the ground in a suburb of Seattle, Washington.

Earth Watch

Engage people worldwide in scientific field research & education to promote understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment

Research – Education – Conservation

Hold research based expeditions for people to participate in

Research:

Focus on applied research where they can make a significant difference in these central global ecological challenges:  Sustainability of coastal, forested, agricultural, and freshwater ecosystems    Managing protected areas and species at the landscape and seascape levels to enhance biodiversity and provide local and regional ecosystem services Restores, revitalizes, conserves global cultural heritage through better understanding of socio cultural links to natural resource use, envi management, and bio diversity Addresses the challenge of climate change and threat to global sustainability

Expeditions

Over 93,000 volunteers have joined scientists in the field as research assistants, contributing more than 11 million hours of their time to frontline envi research worldwide Not Eco tours, volunteer, or volunteer vacation – people of all ages, diverse backgrounds – united by desire to connect and protect the planet Learn hands on about important environmental issues, an directly (and legally), support research that seeks solutions EX: 1.

2.

3.

Volcanology & Ecology in Nicaragua Canopies, Climate, and Critters of the Ecuadorian Rainforest Managing Mangroves and Capturing Carbon in Kenyan Communities

Success Stories

In 2008, volunteers on the Samburu Communities and Wildlife project contributed to 219 interviews with 76 traditional medical practitioners. The result was 58 plants species subsequently identified as being used for the treatment of various illnesses in different communities in Laikipia and Samburu regions of northern Kenya.

When plant samples were extracted and tested against micro-organisms known to cause these diseases, many of the plants were indeed found to be effective. They were potentially useful in killing the bacteria relating to the organisms causing malaria, typhoid, wound infection and even the one causing cystic fibrosis.

Earthwatch is working to

climate change restore and manage mangrove plantations and explore the capacity of different mangrove species to store carbon, which could help mitigate the effects of

. The new plots are already producing wild seedlings, indicating that the project should result in

self sustaining, valuable woodland providing key habitat and shore protection in areas that have been barren for over 30 years

. Mark Huxham, the Earthwatch scientist leading the Tidal Forests of Kenya project confirms there has been an 87 per cent survival rate of the trees at the site, and his conservative estimates predict 180 tons of carbon will be absorbed over the 25 year forest growth. Because mangrove forests collect peat, they will continue to act as carbon sinks for many years to follow. We are involved with the local community to ensure the plantations can be sustainably managed in the long term.

Mexico (Baja Peninsula): Volunteer efforts pay off for black sea turtles After a six-year campaign, conservationists are celebrating the

designation of the Bahia de los Angeles in Baja, Mexico, as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Hundreds of Earthwatch volunteers contributed to this success by helping gather data during the Tracking Baja's Black Sea Turtles expeditions.

The bay is home to numerous marine species as well as birds and other coastal wildlife.

believed to be close to extinction.

This new protected status for the area may also help the critically endangered vaquita, (the world's smallest and most endangered cetacean), a shy porpoise found only in the northern part of the Gulf of California and

Earth First!

Radical Environmental Advocacy Group emerging in the United States in 1979

It is not enough to ask politicians and corporations to destroy less wilderness, we need to preserve it all, to recreate lost habitats and reintroduce extirpated predators. Stop & reverse poisoning of our air, water, and soil.

Formed in response to increasingly corporate, compromising, and ineffective environmental community. Use all tools, from grassroots and legal organizing to civil disobedience and monkey wrenching. When law wont fix problem, bodies put on the line to stop destruction. Believe that life exists for its own sake, that industrial civilization is anti-Earth, anti woman, and anti-liberty. Simply Put: Earth Comes First.

No Compromise

Taking direct public actions is the way to go, according to Earth First!ers

 tree spiking, sabotage, arson.

Warrior Society – taking any means possible to defend mother earth. Declines to participate in democratic process, preferring damage, disabling and destroying property Main focus: genetically modified crops Even when they are giving proposals in a legal fashion, they are highly unrealistic, such as the outline for a 16.8 million acre preserve of California Desert The Sierra Club tried helping them by increasing their acreage requested in a bill to Senator Alan Cranston – accepted 8 million acre proposal which resulted in 81 wilderness areas inn Mojave National Park

Philosophy of Earth First!

Dave Foreman describes the philosophy that motivates Earth First! in Confessions of an Eco-Warrior: "An individual human life has no more intrinsic value than does an individual Grizzly Bear life. Human suffering resulting from drought and famine in Ethiopia is tragic, yes, but the destruction there of other creatures and habitat is even more tragic." "Ours is an ecological perspective that views Earth as a community and recognizes such apparent enemies as 'disease' (e.g., malaria) and 'pests' (e.g., mosquitoes) not as manifestations of evil to be overcome but rather as vital and necessary components of a complex and vibrant biosphere." "An antipathy to 'progress' and 'technology.' We can accept the pejoratives of 'Luddite' and 'Neanderthal' with pride." "There is no hope for reform of industrial empire." "We humans have become a disease -- the Human pox."

Prison Watch

A large part of the Earth First! Journal is the support of the prisoners (from all radical groups) that have been jailed due to their illegal actions.

Examples:

Marie Jeanette Mason #04672-061, FMC Carswell, Federal Medical Center, PO Box 27137, Fort Worth, TX 76127, USA. Serving 21 years and 10 months for her involvement in an ELF arson against a University building carrying out Genetically Modified crop tests. Marie also pleaded guilty to conspiring to carry out ELF actions and admitted involvement in 12 other ELF actions.

Michael Sykes #696693, 10274 Boyer Road, PO Box 5000, Carson City, MI 48811, USA. Serving four to ten years for anti-sprawl arson, criminal damage to a 80-ft utility pole, spray-painting political graffiti and attempting to chisel through cement is his jail cell.

Marco Camenisch Postfach 3143, CH-8105 Regensdorf, Switzerland. Serving 18 years: Ten years for using explosives to destroy electricity pylons leading from nuclear power stations and eight years for the murder of a Swiss Boarder Guard whilst on the run. In '02 Marco completed a 12-year sentence for destroying electricity pylons in Italy.

Sierra Club

Since 1892, Sierra Club has been working to protect communities, wild places, and the planet itself. Largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the U.S.

Mission Statement:

To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote responsible use of the earths ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives

Coal & Clean Energy

Linked to asthma, toxic mercury, and more Clean Energy: solar & wind power are ready to provide clean affordable energy Action: campaign to move beyond coal – act nationally and locally Have successfully stopped over 150 coal plants to date Tell Obama – new air polluting standard at www.beyondcoal.org/act now

Oil

- Americans consume 25% of worlds produced oil, yet nation has less than 3% of worlds proven oil reserves - Leading sources of smog, pm, toxic pollutants - Promote real solutions to cut oil use such as smart transportation systems, clean cars, clean renewable energy • • • • •

Our Priorities

Accelerate the move from dirty coal and oil to clean renewable energy and efficiency.

Push for strong federal and state laws and safeguards to prevent the natural gas industry from damaging the environment and communities.

Expose damaging practices in the gas industry, and close loopholes that exempt oil and gas operations from regulation.

Support residents seeking to hold the industry to the highest set of standards.

Communicate with the public about the risks of natural gas and ways to make it cleaner

Activism

Community where Sierra Club activists and supporters can work together to get things done, on and offline From cleaning streams, protecting endangered species, getting wilderness designation, ending commercial logging, the network is the place where you can collaborate and accomplish You can:    upload documents and create searchable resources for your team Brainstorm, create, edit documents Promote events   Create and promote opportunities for volunteers to get involved Invite people to join Sierra Club has established “brand name recognition” especially when regarding their huge efforts on lobbying government for changes

Wilderness Act of 1964

Throughout 20 th century, they have continued to advocate for the preservation and continuance of natural lands. By the 1960s, Sierra Club Chapters were fighting to get Congress to pass the Wilderness Act, which it did, in 1964. Protects about 9 million acres of federal land

“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

The Face of Environmentalism Many Environmentalists are known as tree huggers

If Environmentalist’s had their way the world would be Garden of Eden, with no human intervention



The fundamental goal of radical environmentalism is not clean air and clean water



Radical environmentalists' goal is not human health, happiness, or life.



Their expressed goal is to prevent man from changing his environment, from intruding on nature

Radical Environmentalist’s attempt to inhibit or prohibit

•Development of Alaskan oil •Offshore drilling •Nuclear power •All other practical forms of energy

Environmentalists oppose construction that could lead to more housing, commerce, and jobs-in favor of endangered species leaving projects abandoned

Medical research is sacrificed to the “rights” of animals

Logging is sacrificed to the “rights” of trees

Climategate

Various legislative bodies have passed laws and regulations

• A gradual elimination of capitalism • Expansion of governmental control over private life • Gradual abolition of private property or private control over property • Extreme financial and criminal penalties for “polluters” • Removal of humans from large portions of the earth’s surface and return of the environment to its pristine state

By: Megan Stransky

ELF Damages in the United States by Type and Cost

Earth Liberation Front (ELF)

 1998-Vail, Colorado

Earth Liberation Front

 2003- West Covina, CA

Earth Liberation Front

 2003- San Diego, CA

Earth Liberation Front

 2002- Fairfield, Maine

Animal Liberation Front (ALF)

    1979- New York University Medical School 1987- University of California- Davis veterinary laboratory 1992- Michigan State University-animal research laboratory 2001 McDonald’s, Arizona

Eco-terrorism

 "It remains what we would probably consider the No. 1 domestic terrorism threat, because they have successfully continued to conduct different types of attacks in and around the country," said FBI Special Agent

Operation Backfire

 In 2006, a nine-year federal sting dubbed "Operation Backfire" was able to dissolve a cell responsible for 20 acts of arson in five Western states over five years. To date, Operation Backfire has had impressive results: more than 40 criminal acts ranging from vandalism to arson have been solved. Seventeen individuals have been indicted, and 15 of them pled guilty and were sentenced in 2007 to jail time ranging from 37 months to 188 months.

Environmental Impacts of Radical Environmentalism

Impacts are Indirect



Setting Fires adds to release of Greenhouse Gases



Buildings that are burned are rebuilt



Overall negative impact on environment

What

’

s Released in a Fire

 Major Emissions  H 2 O  CO 2  Minor Emissions  CO  NO x  SO x  Hydrocarbons

Materials Used to Build Modern Structures

       Lumber  Framing, Doors, etc.

Concrete  Foundation Plastic Piping  Plumbing Electrics Drywall  Made of gypsum or plaster board Roofing  Tile, Shingles, etc.

Furnishings

Vail Ski Resort

 Burned by E.L.F. in October, 1998  $12 Million in Damages  Protest over planned Expansion

Vail Ski Resort

 All buildings destroyed by Arson are rebuilt  New raw materials are used  Expansion Completed with several hundred million invested

La Jolla Crossroads

 August 1, 2003  $50 Million in Damages  Protesting Urban Sprawl

La Jolla Crossroads

 Construction Restarted after fire  Apartments finished and opened to the public without further fires

Conclusion



Majority of buildings burned by arsons rebuilt



Rebuilding requires more natural resources



Fires release unnecessary Greenhouse Gases

Sources

           http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/ http://www.targetofopportunity.com/elf.htm

http://www.earth-liberation-front.org/ http://www.earthwatch.org/ www.

earthfirst

journal.org/ http://activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/o/271-earth-first http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1095&context =srhonorsprog http://www.sierraclub.org/ http://gm-foods.synthasite.com/earth-liberation-front.php

http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/ecoterrorism.asp?learn_cat=extremism &learn_subcat=extremism_in_america&xpicked=4&item=eco http://activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/o/271-earth-first