Scrapbook Assignment #2

1. Yes Men apologize for Bhopal - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiWlvBro9eI

The Yes Men are a duo of con men who forward the cause of environmental activism by tricking people into believe that they are executives of companies that cause significant environmental harm and apologizing for their company's actions to the public.

In this interview, one of the Yes Men has tricked a reporter for the BBC into believing that he is the spokesperson for Dow Chemical Company. In the live interview, the Yes Men imposter publicly apologizes for the Bhopal disaster in India, a gas leaked that killed over 25,000 people 26 years ago, and promises billions of dollars in reparations to those who were affected by the incident.

While the arguments that he makes for why the Dow Chemical company would want to pay the reparations are persuasive, the overall nature of the act is coercive. The Yes Men is getting Dow Chemical Company on the record as having apologized for the incident so they will either have to follow through with what he has pledged or take a major PR hit.

I do believe that the tactics were justified in this situation because the only damage caused by the action was that the Dow Chemical Company was forced to face responsibility for causing the largest industrial disaster the world has ever seen.

Greenpeace Banner Hang on Mount Rushmore - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/08/AR2009070802246.html

Greenpeace is an environmental organization that frequently uses non-violent but confrontation action to earn free media and forward their cause.

In this action, a team of Greenpeace activists slipped past the security at Mount Rushmore and unfurled a giant banner that read, "AMERICA HONORS LEADERS NOT POLITICIANS: STOP GLOBAL WARMING" over one of the president's faces.

This action was undoubtedly coercive, as the sheer insanity of what they did forced their soundbite into the public dialogue.

I do not believe their actions were justified, because President Obama was already working diligently to solve the climate crisis already. Performing such a drastic action only marginalized environmentalists as extremists, and was most likely counterproductive to the cause.