April 6, 2000 | Read Time: 1 minute
Greenpeace USA is using its Web site to link people on the Internet with a remote group of activists protesting oil exploration in the Arctic — and to encourage visitors to the site to join the fight.
A small group of Greenpeace activists has set up camp on the frozen Arctic Ocean to protest BP Amoco’s Northstar oil operation off the shore of Alaska and to draw attention to the danger the organization believes the work poses to the fragile Arctic environment.
The activists post updates on the Arctic Action section of Greenpeace’s Web site almost every day and conduct periodic Web broadcasts. Visitors to the site can ask the activists questions on the site’s discussion board and browse a gallery of photographs the ice campers have taken.
The site allows Internet users to participate in the campaign in a number of ways. They can send e-mail or fax letters of protest to BP Amoco officials. In the first month that information about the Arctic protest was up, visitors sent 5,000 letters to BP Amoco’s chief executive.
A campaign kit, which can be downloaded, includes background information on the issue, fliers, a petition, sample protest letters, and a postcard to send to BP Amoco.
The site also encourages visitors to sign up to receive campaign updates via e-mail and to send Arctic-themed e-mail postcards to their friends. More than 450 people have signed up to receive Greenpeace’s polar action alerts, and 1,000 have asked to receive a weekly news bulletin about the campaign.
To get there: Go to http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/arctic.
