Friends of the Earth Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Friends of the Earth - Research Paper Example The organization asserts that the right to a clean and healthy environment is concurrent with the right to justice for every individual. This organization aims at not only changing the world for the people dwelling on Earth but also aims to preserve the natural blessings from complete deterioration. The key areas of the organization’s focus involve the promotion of economic justice and increasing resistance related to neo-liberalism, preservation of natural resources including forests, promotion of bio-diversity, steps to promote autonomous food availability and environmentally sound activities as well as preserving the energy resources which are getting scarcer in the modern age. The organization follows a fixed procedure to manage the tasks and project. Friends of the Earth International organize bi-annual meetings to prioritize projects and campaigns. The organization under review does not only aid environment and life locally but extends its activities at an international level. Its major international efforts relate to desertification, water, maritime, nuclear powers etc. MISSION The mission of the organization as described on its official website is â€Å"To campaign on today’s most urgent environmental and social issues by challenging the current model of economic and corporate globalization, and promote solutions that will help to create environmentally sustainable and socially just societies† [1]. The organization’s mission involves several deep concepts which extend the scope of its work areas and extent of its activities. Globalization, for instance, requires the organization to work in different areas like labor relations and issues, environmental issues and so on. HISTORY Friends of the Earth organization was started in 1969 by David Ross Brower (1912-2000), a prominent environmental enthusiast with also a passion for mountaineering. In 1971, the organization went international by collaborating with groups belonging to S weden, UK and France and over the years, the number of member groups in different countries increased to a number of 76. Among their early battles was the law suit against building a pipeline in Alaska going from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez Alaska. According to the Friends of the Earth, this was in conflict with the National Environmental Policy Act and an incursion into America’s last wilderness. They were also keen to tackle supersonic aircrafts due to its sonic boom and higher potential for damage to the ozone layer. This resulted in the ban of all overland commercial flight. Friends of the Earth was also one of the first organizations to challenge the construction of Nuclear Plants for generating energy in the United States. In 1986, Brower resigned to be succeeded by Erich Pica, a leading expert on the way federal tax dollars subsidize pollution and took the work forward of holding corporations accountable to the social and environmental impacts of their practices [1]. INFLUEN CES OF FRIENDS OF EARTH Giving voice to issues that favored the earth’s environment and lobbying aggressively for the correct government action has led to many governmental policies that curb if not prevent corporations and industries to violate the health and safety of our environment. These policies, legislations and checks not only benefit the subjects but are beneficial to the entire population of the Earth and its