Greenpeace’s Bad Actions

Steven Guilbeault (Now a Liberal Cabinet Minister)is led away by police after scaling Toronto’s CN Tower on July 16, 2001 as part of a Greenpeace protest (Aaron Harris / The Canadian Press)

Greenpeace did some good things for the environment in past times. However, these days it’s an example of a leftist organization that outgrew its usefulness. ⁽¹⁾

Two recent examples serve as examples:

Heavy Fine for Damages and Protests

A jury in North Dakota has ordered Greenpeace to pay $660 million to a Texas pipeline company called Energy Transfer. Greenpeace will appeal but the suit named both Greenpeace USA and also the international arm, and the damages are so large, if they survive the appeal they would bankrupt the US branch entirely and prevent Greenpeace operating in the USA.

The payment is to compensate for damages and losses from protests in 2015 and 2016 that damaged and delayed the North Dakota Access Pipeline. The protests were so large and so out of control, the clean-up bill cost North Dakota $38 million dollars.

Reports Jo Nova, “The 1,172-mile long pipeline did eventually start operation in 2017. It shifts 5% of the daily oil production of the United States. Presumably every month it was delayed would have cost US customer money, time or a better choice, and there’s no compensation for them. Taxpayers also, likely funded some of the Greenpeace budget through USAID and the Tides Foundation. It’s easy to imagine how a million dollars here or there could whip up angry protests that cause hundreds of millions in losses.” ⁽²⁾

Killing Policy on Genetically Modified Foods

Another example of egregious action by Greenpeace is their stance on genetically modified food. This one is responsible for thousands, if not millions of deaths.

A Philippine court in April 2024, acting on a filing by Greenpeace rescinded the country’s commercialization approval of Golden Rice, a ruling that even the uber liberal The Guardian, UK, long a dogged opponent of genetically modified crops (GMOs) and a former ally of Greenpeace on this issue, characterized as disgraceful. ⁽³⁾

The sudden decision at a time when the first batch was ready to be harvested has reverberated across the globe. Scientists from food insecure nations such as India and Bangladesh fear that the pathway to commercial approval of important genetically modified crops in their own countries will become more difficult acutely by the poor, with potentially 100,000 new deaths of children each year as the outcome.

So, why is Golden Rice so important?

Their eyes tell their sad stories as ghastly white irises give way to vacant stares. We can look at them, but they can’t look back at us. They’ve gone blind because of malnutrition.

The scourge of blindness and death is a dual tragedy, first because blindness from vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is an early sign of life-threatening debilitation, and two-thirds of sufferers will die within a year, and second, because VAD could be prevented with the product of an accessible modern agriculture technology. ⁽³⁾

Over the years, partly under the guidance of the United Nations, various stop-gap efforts have been instituted to try to slow the scourge, including distributing vitamin A supplements and trying to educate desperately poor villagers about diet changes. They all failed.

The most elegant and practical approach to preventing VAD is a group of genetically engineered rice varieties known as Golden Rice because of its color, which is imparted by the presence of beta-carotene, the precursor of vitamin A, Rice is a food staple for hundreds of millions, especially in Asia. In developing countries, 200 to 300 million children of pre-school age are at risk of vitamin A deficiency. That increases the susceptibility too infections such as measles and diarrheal diseases. Every year, about half a million children become blind because of VAD and 70 percent of them die within a year of losing their sight. ⁽³⁾

The only thing blocking the global treatment is a coalition of advocacy groups, led by Greenpeace International, that has intimated the public and manipulated some regulators and courts into believing that obstructing the genetic engineering revolution is a more important cause than preserving the lives of vulnerable children.

“The data does not matter: it does not matter what is true, it only matters what people believe is true”

Greenpeace has been at this for a long time. Back in 2016 the organization was blasted by a signed letter by 107 Nobel laureates for opposing Golden Rice. ⁽⁴⁾

The letter said that studies have consistently found that GM foods are safe to eat as conventional foods and argued that Greenpeace was on the wrong side of this issue.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that the scientific consensus is that gene editing in a laboratory is not more hazardous than traditional modifications through breeding. ⁽⁴⁾

The fact that GMO’s are safe is so well established that almost every professional organization in the entire world has already declared it safe in official statements.

Today, nearly 70% of foods in supermarkets contain GMOs. ⁽⁵⁾

Yet, says Paul Watson, co-founder of Greenpeace, “The data does not matter: it does not matter what is true, it only matters what people believe is true.” ⁽²⁾

A real consolation for the millions who die from VAD each year.

References

1. Milt Harris, “Misguided Greenpeace interference may cost them greenbacks,” Canada Free Press, March 21, 2025
2. Jo Nova, “Greenpeace ordered to pay oil company $660 million which may wipe them out in the US,” joannenova.com.au March 21, 2025
3. Henry Miller and Kathleen Hefferom, “When Greenpeace wins, we all lose, the cynical war on genetically engineered crops grinds on,” geneticliteracyproject.org, August 5, 2024
4. Hank Campbell, “Over 100 Nobel laureates condemn Greenpeace for opposing golden rice,” acsh.org/news, June 29, 2016
5. Steve Milloy, “Junk science: why GMO’s will not kill you,” nydailytnews.com, November 6, 2015