The Patriot Post® · Greenpeace Being Sued for Racketeering
Greenpeace, and quite a few of its allies, are being sued by Resolute Forest Products Inc. on charges of racketeering. The lawsuit comes in response to Greenpeace’s crusade accusing Resolute falsely of:
(a) ‘destroying endangered forests,’ and ‘operating and sourcing wood … in violation of law’; (b) causing the ‘destruction of endangered species’ and ‘critical caribou habitat’ and risking a ‘Caribou Herd Death Spiral,’ ‘extirpation’ and ‘extinction;’ (c) ‘abandoning’ and ‘impoverishing’ the Boreal’s indigenous communities; and (d) impairing the Boreal’s ability to mitigate climate change.
For a company that is recognized in North America and around the globe for leading the way in “social responsibility and sustainable development,” Resolute has received more than its share of radical environmental bullying. However, it’s not sitting back, wringing its hands and trying to pacify the greenies. No way!
In a strong act of defiance, Resolute turned the tables on its accusers and brought a lawsuit against Greenpeace and its associates in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
The extremely detailed complaint covers the gross falsities of the Greenpeace allegations.
Instead of destroying Boreal forests irresponsibly, in the areas that Resolute harvests trees, it immediately starts the regeneration process naturally or with seeding or planting. Although Resolute plays a minor part in the less than 0.5% of the Canadian Boreal forest harvested annually, it has reduced its impact by planting over a billion trees in Ontario alone.
As for destroying the habitat of the caribou, in 2010 Resolute agreed with Greenpeace to operate outside the habitat of the threatened woodland caribou. Greenpeace conveniently overlooks the fact that the affected populations are extremely small in comparison with the rest of Quebec’s caribou, over 98% of which continue stable and self-sustained.
Another equally ignored fact is that Resolute brings employment and economic opportunities to the indigenous peoples while hindered by the difficult economic times and by Greenpeace itself.
Ironically the radical environmental agenda towards Resolute has had the direct effect of closing some businesses that were investing in the region, turning the whole “protect the indigenous peoples” line on its head.
The claims by Greenpeace that Resolute is destroying the ability of the forests to mitigate climate change goes against the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which says that younger forest growth benefits the climate more than old growth. And Resolute has contributed far more than Greenpeace to the Boreal’s ability to absorb greenhouse gases.
Resolute’s legal counsel is conducting a thorough investigation of Greenpeace and has established a website to catalog information regarding the green group’s campaign and practices.
It’s refreshing to see an environmentally conscious and economically responsible business fight back against Greenpeace’s malicious attempt to beat it into submission.
Grace Wiegman is an intern with Earth Rising Blog. Environmental issues caught her attention in college, and she enjoyed learning about the current topics and the different viewpoints involved.
Republished from Earth Rising.