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TechnoratiNEW YORKÂ - Greenpeace posed as a pro-coal organization to become a sponsor of the 2008 McCloskey Coal USA conference, which was surprised but allowed them to deliver a brief anti-coal message, officials said Friday.
When The McCloskey Group figured out who the Institute for Energy Solutions really were, they decided to let Greenpeace have their booth under the phone name and make brief remarks, organizers said.
The conference managers did take the precaution of adding security because of Greenpeace's reputation for confrontational, disruptive tactics, they said. The muscle was used once, to eject one Greenpeace member.
Greenpeace spokesman Carroll Muffett was allowed to speak against coal as a polluting fuel for a few minutes, and the team manned a booth offering information and anti-coal paraphernalia.
"It's a lot of value for the money," said Muffett of the $8,500 co-sponsorship fee that made the Greenpeace front group publishers of the conference brochure.
In the brochure, an ad for the fake Institute seems pro-coal, but if readers go to the www.tomorrowsenergytoday.org website, they are redirected to www.coal-is-dirty.com.
The Greenpeace team handed out business cards that read: "The Institute for Energy Solutions is a joke. So is clean coal." The cards were signed Greenpeace.
Muffett said the environmental action group merely copied a tactic used by several industries, creating a benign-sounding but phone front to promote their position.
Gerard McCloskey, chairman of the consulting and publishing company that bears his name, said it was his second experience with Greenpeace recently.
The group disrupted a conference in London several months ago, and he decided to try to have a conversation with Greenpeace, McCloskey said.
"I thought what we should do was engage them," McCloskey said. "All of us have children, grandchildren. It was good to see Greenpeace here willing to put their argument out."
As the conference broke for lunch Thursday, Greenpeace had Muffett's 9-year-old daughter and two boys ages 10 and 11 handing out asthma inhalers and masks.
That offended some attendees. "I think that using kids ... was inappropriate," McCloskey said.
Muffett demurred, saying the 10-year-old boy has asthma and the youngsters wanted to be there. "What to me is unconscionable is to sell a product when you know it gives children asthma," Muffett said.
Muffett said he was pleased with the effort and called the conference attendees "quite receptive" after they listened quietly and responded to his remarks with polite applause.
"Maybe the coal industry's excessively polite," McCloskey said.
McCloskey said he would like to address a Greenpeace meeting. "I would like to persuade them that they're wrong in key areas," he said.
Reporting by Bruce Nichols; Editing by John Picinich
© 2008 Reuters
11 Comments so far
Show All"I thought what we should do was engage them," McCloskey said. "All of us have children, grandchildren. It was good to see Greenpeace here willing to put their argument out."
Isn't part of this quote missing somewhere in translation? I think McCloskey's full statement was ""All of us have children, grandchildren. But us coal barons fuck every last child we can so we can build a big glass bubble for our own progeny in the year 2012. We also eat babies for breakfast. So?"
You had to be there.
The Yes Men employ similar tactics with other corporate polluters. It's wonderful to follow the actions of these brave and committed activists.
Greenpeace does more than risk their reputation in their activities. The recent action taken against the Japanese whaling fleet is a good example. Positioning a small water craft between the whaling vessel and the target whale is committment indeed.
I give donations to Greenpeace at Christmas as presents to relatives - whether they want it or not. It's fun to think of the logger in the family getting the Greenpeace thankyou note.
fyi, if you support this type of stuff, www.risingtidenorthamerica.org does similar actions with more radical and multi-issue messaging.
As a genuinely grassroots network, we use annually about the same ammount of money GP used for this one action.
It's not just the burning of coal -- it's the gigantic freakin' hole in the ground and the poisoning of the rivers, the total destruction of the land, big giant trucks carting it around, and frequently displacing indigenous populations. Coal miners don't exactly live long, healthy lives. It doesn't matter how 'clean' you can burn it -- show me how you can mine it without massive destruction to land, animals and people.
Go Greenpeace -- I am proud to support you every month!
Yes...THAT was AWESOME!.. Way to GO Green Peace...
Now..if they would ONLY STOP PAYING THE SALLERIES OF THE POLITICIANS WHO GIVE AWAY HUGE AMOUNTS OF PORK TO THE COAL INDUSTRY..THEY MIGHT ACTUALLY CHANGE SOMETHING..
THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE FOLKS..OF A REALITY...THAT VIRTUALLY NO ACTION WILL CHANGE ANYHTING...AND THERE IS ONLY ONE ACTION THAT WILL...
STOP PAYING TAXES...PERIOD! AND THEN..OUR "REPRESENTATIVES" WILL LISTEN..AND CHANGE WILL HAPPEN..NOTHING ELSE..NO MATTER HOW CLEVER..HOW BRAVE..WILL WORK...ONLY MONEY..ONLY MONEY.......ONLY...M-O-N-E-Y...THEY LISTEN TO NOTHING ELSE..
STILL..WAY TO GO FOLKS..WAY TO GO! BRAVISIMO!
Even though it is a serious topic, the creativity of Greenpeace often makes me laugh.
Brave, clever, and and entertaining--I love these people.
McCloskey said he would like to address a Greenpeace meeting. "I would like to persuade them that they're wrong in key areas," he said.
Good luck, McCloskey, you propagandizing filth.
Clean Coal commercials make me nauseous when they appear on TV. Almost as bad as the greenwashing ads and those heartstring-pulling ads by defense contractors.
Go Greenpeace! You speak for me.
Whoever's head of Greenpeace USA should be president of the US! I wish I could afford to donate to them. They need all the help they can get.
I am so thankful that you are who you are, Green Peace!
Protesting the attitude of "clean coal" is essential for the tons of reasons that you have and are talking about.
Coal proponents have got to be mindless fools, or have they not looked at the decimation of mountain tops in West Virginia and other locals around the country where coal mining has encroached on the land.
There are just too many downsides to coal. It is time to put a stop to this disgusting method of producing energy.
Your imagination and tenacity used to bring attention to the thoroughly "dirty" coal issue is brilliant as well as effective!
The burning of coal results in the uncapturing of geosequestered carbon. This more than anything else means that renewal energy solutions and a reduction of our energy consumption need to be adopted as much and as soon as possible. According the James Hansen, we are already passing and leaving behind the maximum level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is safe for planetary well being. As a living creature , Gaian homeostasis is now pushed off the safety limits. The North Pole reflective ice cap will almost disappear this year. Burning coal is our planetary death warrant.