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Articles by Rex Weyler
The Great Carbon Capture Scam
Carbon capture has always been a fossil fuel industry scam, designed to distract and delay critical measures to cut emissions by phasing out coal, oil, and gas. Rex Weyler lays it out. We know that oil companies hid knowledge of global heating for decades, but the captains of petroleum also schemed to turn the ecological crisis into a profit centre.
Searching for warm data
I’m trying to be a new kind of person. I don’t mean a kind of person that has never existed before, but a new kind for me, personally. This may seem presumptuous and impossible, because we get set in our ways, driven like all mammals by genetics and habit. I’m 76 and plenty set in my ways. I’ve become a new kind of person before, but not because I set out to do so. If I try too hard, I’m just the same old person, trying too hard. Becoming a new type of person just happens. Circumstances.
"Searching for warm data" — Rex Weyler - Greenpeace International
I’m trying to be a new kind of person. I don’t mean a kind of person that has never existed before, but a new kind for me, personally. This may seem presumptuous and impossible, because we get set in our ways, driven like all mammals by genetics and habit. I’m 76 and plenty set in my ways. I’ve become a new kind of person before, but not because I set out to do so. If I try too hard, I’m just the same old person, trying too hard. Becoming a new type of person just happens. Circumstances.
Susi Newborn, 1950-2023
Susi Newborn — one of the most skilled and effective activists in Greenpeace’s 52-year history — passed away on the last day of December 2023. She is remembered fondly by her beloved children, Brenna, Woody, and Naawie; her granddaughter Toody; by her ex-husbands, Martini Gotje and Luc Tutugoro; and by friends, colleagues, and shipmates around the world.
"Susi Newborn, 1950-2023" –Rex Weyler - Greenpeace International
Susi Newborn — one of the most skilled and effective activists in Greenpeace’s 52-year history — passed away on the last day of December 2023. She is remembered fondly by her beloved children, Brenna, Woody, and Naawie; her granddaughter Toody; by her ex-husbands, Martini Gotje and Luc Tutugoro; and by friends, colleagues, and shipmates around the world.
Green Talks: Rex Weyler & Dr. Reyes Tirado
Dr. Reyes Tirado is a plant ecology, climate and biodiversity researcher, who earned her PhD at the University of Almería in Spain, studied fire/plant interaction at Stanford and Berkeley, and until recently worked with the Greenpeace Science Unit through the Innovation Centre at Exeter University and currently with Climate Bonds Initiative. In October, I talked with Dr. Tirado about bringing an ecologist’s perspective to the larger environmental movement.
'Remembering Mr. Mindbomb' — Rex Weyler - Greenpeace International
Mr. Mindbomb is a biography of Greenpeace co-founder Robert Lorne Hunter (1941-2005), told by his friends and family. The book was edited by Bob’s wife, 1970s Greenpeace organizer Bobbi Hunter. Scores of campaign and media colleagues contribute accounts of his life. A picture emerges of a man who deeply touched people’s hearts, inspired commitment, helped give birth to the modern ecology movement, and did it all with extraordinary humility and humour.
On planning and disaster: Notes from an earthquake
How disasters are baked into Turkey’s developmental model—and what kind of opposition could emerge out of the ruins of the earthquake It has been nearly two months since February 6th, when two consecutive earthquakes of 7.8 and 7.7 magnitudes originating in the towns of Maraş and Antep took place. The earthquake has had a devastating effect across a large geographical area near the Turkish-Syrian border, that spans the historic lands of Kurdistan and Turkey as well as Northern Syria and Rojava.
‘Farewell to Growth’ Serge Latouche (2007)
Politicians and the media obsess about ‘economic growth’; but what if that ‘glorious thirty years’ of economic expansion from the 1960s has ended? This landmark text of the degrowth movement explores why growth’s ‘end is nigh’, and why this should be welcomed. To suggest that further economic growth has become near impossible is a ‘secular heresy’; one so great it automatically excludes that person from a leading role in politics or the media.
Reclaiming Salish Canoe Culture in the Shadow of Tech Giants
Jan. 6 was a typical overcast day in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood. Few of the tech workers from the nearby offices of Amazon, Google, and Microsoft were outside at lunchtime. Only a few could be seen walking their dogs in Lake Union Park. The whining of car tires zooming along Aurora Avenue to the west and Interstate 5 to the east drowned out all natural sounds.
Green Talks: Nate Hagens & The Great Simplification
Florida Man Gets Drunk at Disney Springs, Warns Police That They ‘Better Hope He Is Never Their Nurse,’ Then His Family Abandons Him
Green Talks: Nate Hagens & The Great Simplification
Nate Hagens is a former editor of the Oil Drum website that discusses the implications of resource limits, he founded the Institute for the Study of Energy & our Future, taught a popular class at the University of Minnesota, “Reality 101,” on the human ecological predicament, and now produces two of the most popular environmental podcasts: The Great Simplification, in which he interviews knowledgeable ecologists and resource analysts, and Frankly, his personal reflections based on what he has...
Green Talks: Rex Weyler, Nate Hagens & The Great Simplification
Nate Hagens is a former editor of the Oil Drum website that discusses the implications of resource limits, he founded the Institute for the Study of Energy & our Future, taught a popular class at the University of Minnesota, “Reality 101,” on the human ecological predicament, and now produces two of the most popular environmental podcasts: The Great Simplification, in which he interviews knowledgeable ecologists and resource analysts, and Frankly, his personal reflections based on what he has...
The Great Carbon Capture Scam
Red State Voices and Blue State Voices coming together for GREEN We know that oil companies hid knowledge of global heating for decades, but the captains of petroleum also schemed to turn the ecological crisis into a profit centre. The industry devised a plan to swindle money from the public purse by pretending to address the climate issue while using subsidies to increase oil production. If one had no moral compass, one might say their scam was a stroke of genius.
The Great Carbon Capture Scam
We know that oil companies hid knowledge of global heating for decades, but the captains of petroleum also schemed to turn the ecological crisis into a profit centre. The industry devised a plan to swindle money from the public purse by pretending to address the climate issue while using subsidies to increase oil production. If one had no moral compass, one might say their scam was a stroke of genius.
Ecology? Look it up! You’re still involved
By Rex Weyler, originally published by Greenpeace February 9, 2022 This year has been the 50th Anniversary of Greenpeace; 2022 will be the 50th anniversary of the Limits to Growth study. During this era, a half-century ago, citizens around the world began seeing signs of a pending ecological crisis, and began to talk about it.
Look up, look in
Don’t Look Up quickly broke Netflix viewing records upon being released late in December, and the film has become a lightning rod for opinions about global heating, AKA climate change. The film by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice) stars Jennifer Lawrence as grad student Kate Dibiasky and Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy, two astronomers who discover that a huge, killer comet is headed for Earth.
Ecology? Look it up! You’re still involved
Originally published on Greenpeace International This year has been the 50th Anniversary of Greenpeace; 2022 will be the 50th anniversary of the Limits to Growth study. During this era, a half-century ago, citizens around the world began seeing signs of a pending ecological crisis, and began to talk about it. The image above could be considered the first Greenpeace public media statement, one of twelve billboards erected in Vancouver, in 1969, by Greenpeace co-founders Dorothy and Ben Metcalfe.
"A photographer looks back at Greenpeace’s early years" — Rex Weyler
A photographer looks back at Greenpeace’s early years From 1974 to 1982, I served as photographer on Greenpeace campaigns. Here are a dozen more photographs from those years along with some memories that they evoke: Whale campaign announcement, Vancouver, 1975 © Greenpeace / Rex Weyler Greenpeace, originally an anti-war group, had been active in local ecological issues in Canada, but wanted to stage an ecology action that would have global impact.
Thoughts for young activists
Originally published on Greenpeace International As a young anti-war activist in the 1960s, I met older radical Ira Sandperl at the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence, in California, which he had founded with pacifist folk singer Joan Baez. One evening, Sandperl asked me, “Do you want to know the secret to organizing?” “Yes,” I replied. “Be organized,” he said.
50 years of Greenpeace: Looking back and looking forward
This month, Greenpeace celebrates 50 years of environmental activism, dating from the first campaign to stop a nuclear bomb test in Alaska, launched from Vancouver, Canada, on Sept. 15, 1971. Several books published at that time inspired ecological awareness: Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, in 1962, the ground-breaking Limits to Growth by Donella Meadows, Dennis Meadows, Jørgen Randers, and their colleagues at the Club of Rome in 1972. Still, ecology was not a fashionable idea in the early 1970s.
Why is the political process so slow to respond to our ecological crisis?
By Rex Weyler, originally published by energyskeptic.com September 24, 2021 Preface. Rex Weyler is one of the co-founders of Greenpeace in Canada, a brilliant ecologist and journalist, and more. His blog is here. *** Rex Weyler. September 2021. Ecological crisis: Might as well speak the truth Why is the political process — worldwide — so slow in responding appropriately to our ecological crisis?
Photographic memories of Greenpeace's early years — Rex Weyler
A photographer looks back at Greenpeace’s early years From 1974 to 1982, I served as photographer on Greenpeace campaigns. Here are a dozen photographs from those years and some memories that they evoke: The first public Greenpeace office opened in 1975 on 4th Avenue in Vancouver © Greenpeace / Rex Weyler The very first Greenpeace office was in the home of Dorothy and Irving Stowe in Vancouver. We used to meet at the Unitarian Church, in our kitchens, in coffee shops, and in pubs.
Photographic memories of Greenpeace's early years — Rex Weyler - Greenpeace International
From 1974 to 1982, I served as photographer on Greenpeace campaigns. Here are a dozen photographs from those years and some memories that they evoke: The very first Greenpeace office was in the home of Dorothy and Irving Stowe in Vancouver. We used to meet at the Unitarian Church, in our kitchens, in coffee shops, and in pubs.
50 years of Greenpeace: Q&A with Rex Weyler - Greenpeace International
With Greenpeace’s 50th anniversary on the horizon, I was asked to host a series of virtual “mailbag” calls connecting activists across generations and regions. The outpouring of interest — and questions — from those at Greenpeace today was moving. While I could not address all the great questions and comments in one article or one call, here is the first batch. These are my thoughts and ideas. Someone else might have different ideas.
How I became an ecologist — Rex Weyler
How does an eager engineering student, in the era of expanding space exploration, become an ecologist, dedicated to the Earth? In my case: Rachel Carson, the Cuyahoga River, Gregory Bateson, Fools Crow, and a magpie. In 1966, I enrolled as a physics and math student at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Like most of the students, I felt a great anticipation about space exploration and the discoveries of astrophysics.
"Social inertia: Why is change so hard?" —Rex Weyler
I saw the danger / yet I walked / along the enchanted way. —Peter Kavanagh, Raglan Road, 1946 Over the past few decades a recurring question arises in public ecological discourse: In the face of overwhelming evidence, scientific warnings, existential urgency, and countless examples of ecological disintegration, why are societies worldwide so slow to respond appropriately? Why, fifty years after the Limits to Growth study, are we still not able to slow human expansion and consumption?
Lawrence Ferlinghetti: 1919 - 2021
On Monday, Feb. 22, American poet, publisher and innovative bookseller Lawrence Ferlinghetti died from lung disease at the age of 101. In the summer of 1977, Ferlinghetti joined the crew of the Greenpeace ship during the whale campaign, and he wrote a historic poem in the ship's dreambook.
Remembering Dorothy Stowe, 1920-2010
Dorothy Stowe would be 100 today. She passed away peacefully ten years ago in Vancouver, where she co-founded Greenpeace with her husband Irving and other Vancouver pacifists and ecologists. Here is a photograph taken of Dorothy Stowe and me at the 2009 release party for the CD from the concert – featuring Joni Mitchel and James Taylor – that launched Greenpeace in 1970. Dorothy Stowe and Rex Weyler, Greenpeace co-founders, at the Amchitka CD Release Party.
To Save Our Ecology, We Must Move Beyond Hope
Children's futures depend on us no longer dithering in search of hope, but instead throwing ourselves into last ditch action. Photo by Cassandra's Eye from the Your BC: The Tyee's Photo Pool. Did Earth rumble after the Rio+20 climate conference? Or was that the roar of a billion citizens letting go the expectation that polite dialogue and political process would restore Earth's ecological balance?
The decline of oil has already begun - Rex Weyler
In 1961, when I was 14, working on a science fair project, my father – a geologist and petroleum engineer – explained oil depletion to me. To grow production, oil companies were drilling deeper and deeper wells, developing technologies to extract more oil from spent fields, and would one day tap into shale rock and the Canadian tar sands to extract the dregs. Greenpeace activists protest oil in front of the Palácio do Planalto, in Brasília.
How did a lawyer who took on big oil and won end up under house arrest?
This piece was originally published in Canada’s National Observer and appears here as part of our Climate Desk Partnership. Last September, I travelled from Western Canada to New York City to see the human rights lawyer Steven Donziger. Donziger cannot travel. He cannot even stroll the hallway of his Upper West Side apartment building on 104th Street without special court permission. He remains under house arrest, wearing an ankle bracelet.
Surface of Mars shows scars of glaciers just like Canada's High Arctic: study
Only 2 days left to save big on a National Observer subscription Get 3 years for only $99! The deep valleys scarred into the surface of Mars under thick sheets of ice show that the planet once mirrored the Canadian High Arctic, says a new study. Published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, the study says many of the valley networks carved into the surface of Mars were formed by water melting beneath glacial ice. It means there were fewer free-flowing rivers than previously thought.
Air Force, UN food agency tackle skyrocketing COVID-19 hunger in Latin America
The head of the UN World Food Program says the COVID-19 crisis has dramatically increased the number of starving people in Latin America, which could trigger a refugee exodus to North America if not addressed. David Beasley, the agency's director, issued the warning as the Royal Canadian Air Force began Saturday to prepare to end its nearly two-week mission in which a mammoth C-17 Globemaster transport crisscrossed Central and South America and the Caribbean delivering tonnes of medical supplies.
This lawyer took on Chevron and won the largest human rights and environmental court judgment in history. Then he lost his freedom
Last September, I travelled from Western Canada to New York City to see human rights lawyer Steven Donziger. Donziger cannot travel. He cannot even stroll the hallway of his Upper West Side apartment building on 104th Street without special court permission. He remains under house arrest, wearing an ankle bracelet.
Illegal mining threatens the Amazon and exposes Indigenous Peoples to COVID-19
The rampant spread of the coronavirus in Brazil has already taken the lives of more than 57 thousand people. Meanwhile, illegal miners are going further and further into Indigenous lands in the Amazon, threatening not only the forest, but also exposing Indigenous People to COVID-19. Mining pushes through and devastates the Munduruku Indigenous Land in the Amazon.
'The Story of Plastic' is an eye-opener on the global plastic pollution crisis - Greenpeace International
What does an anti-oil & gas activist in Houston, Texas, have in common with a lawyer advocating for plastic bag bans in Jakarta, Indonesia, and a waste picker in Delhi, India? They’re all part of the global fight to end plastic pollution – and they’re all featured in a new documentary film that BIG PLASTIC doesn’t want you to see. For decades, we’ve been told we can’t live without the conveniences of plastic.
Norwegian climate lawsuit accepted by Supreme Court - Greenpeace International
Oslo, Norway – The Norwegian Supreme Court will hear an appeal in a climate court case, also known as The People vs. Arctic Oil, which has already been through two lower court levels. Environmental organizations see it as a recognition of the importance of this case for Norway and the rest of the world.
Can the pandemic sound the alarm on climate change?
In the past few weeks, our entire planet has been experiencing an unprecedented crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with extremely significant losses on many levels. I am a professor of biology at the University of West Attica in Greece, and a volunteer at Greenpeace.
An ecology reading list for self-isolating environmentalists
There are over a million ecology books in print, and sorting through them might be a challenge. I’ve included some of the essential classics in the field. In my estimation, every ecologist and/or environmentalist would benefit by being aware of the information in these books. The social isolation response to the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in our lifetimes.
Steven Donziger: The man who stood up to an oil giant, and paid the price - Rex Weyler
In the fall of 2016, I travelled to Ecuador’s Amazon Basin, where I met Indigenous communities and Campesino farmers whose land had been polluted by toxic oil waste. They had won a landmark court judgement against the Chevron Corporation, but the company refused to pay. I visited the one, tiny clinic serving thousands of cancer patients, and also met the victims’ American lawyer, who has spent the last 27 years defending their rights.
A record breaking dress exchange: One event in over 40 cities
A clothes swap in Hannover, among the events taking place in 40 German cities Today, Greenpeace is throwing the biggest clothes swap party ever seen in Austria and Germany: In over 40 cities, from the Danube to the Danish border, more than 10,000 expected participants will exchange some 50,000 trousers, skirts, t-shirts and evening tops. There’s no need to buy new clothes if you want to change your look.
Aldi commits to Detox
Aldi commits to Detox In a world of toxic and cheap throwaway clothing, big retail stores have the opportunity and ability to change the way our clothes and products are made. Aldi, one of the top ten retailers in the world, has joined the Detox movement and committed to eliminate all hazardous chemicals from their textile products by January 1st, 2020. Aldi is growing. The supermarket giant is not only strong in its home market of Germany but is seeing sales rise in Europe.
Rewilding - Greenpeace International
Like many ecologists, every week I read announcements about a new “game changing” technology that promises to turn our ecological crisis around. The game rarely changes. Knepp wildland © Charlie Burrell Governments and corporations cling to the belief that the world economy can grow forever, even as resources are depleted and carbon emissions keep increasing.
Amazon deforestation reaches highest level in more than a decade
The Amazon is being destroyed by government mismanagement at the highest rate in more than a decade. Deforestation ravaged an area equivalent to 1.4 million soccer fields between August 2018 and July 2019, according to data from Brazil’s Institute for Satellite Deforestation Monitoring Project (PRODES) of the Instituto de Space Research (INPE) released on Monday.
The end of infinite growth - Rex Weyler
I’m in Vancouver, riding the skytrain, the metro-region’s elevated and underground public transport system. In a crowded cabin, I gaze above the seats and see this advertisement: There is no option C: “Change our system to prevent it.” This little ad is a pitch by Metro Vancouver’s transportation authority, TransLink. They want the public to choose “underwater transit technology” – it means bigger budgets for them.
Gaia: everything on Earth is connected - Rex Weyler
In Greek mythology only Chaos precedes Gaia. Gaia was the Greek goddess of Earth, mother of all life, similar to the Roman Terra Mater (mother Earth) reclining with a cornucopia, or the Andean Pachamama, the Hindu, Prithvi, “the Vast One,” or the Hopi Kokyangwuti, Spider Grandmother, who with Sun god Tawa created Earth and its creatures. Planet Earth from space. © NASA / Greenpeace James Lovelock, the British independent scientist, turned 100 this year.
Why Single Use is Not the Future Option
Plastic pollution is a global threat. And thanks to pressure from people all around the world, brands and retailers know they need to take responsibility for creating it. We are increasingly being bombarded with corporate announcements on new packaging for products — things like “100% recyclable packaging”, “made with biodegradable plastic”, and “sustainable paper packaging”. But what do these efforts really entail, and are they the solution to the plastic pollution crisis?
How do you start a global environmental movement? - Greenpeace
This month the Climate Strikes rang out around the world with millions of people taking part in activities, protests, and marches. Two organisers from Fridays for Future in Sweden – Andreas Magnusson, 15, and Ell Ottosson Jarl, 18 – spoke to one of the founding members of Greenpeace, Rex Weyler, 72, about what got them into the movement, what keeps them going, and some tips for building resilience. We were lucky enough to be in the room.
Climate crisis: IPCC to expose grim reality of deforestation and meat production
Geneva, Switzerland – The state of the climate crisis on land and the urgent need to protect forests and shift our global food system to sustainability is expected to be laid bare in an upcoming authoritative UN report on Climate Change and Land.
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