Editing Rainforest Action Network (section)

==Programs==

===Tropical Forests Program===
RAN’s Tropical Forests Program focuses on stopping rainforest deforestation and degradation and the oppression of forest peoples in [[Indonesia]]. As a result of [[Deforestation in Indonesia|deforestation]] and the destruction of [[peatland]] for the [[agribusiness]] and [[pulp and paper industries]], Indonesia is now the third largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world.<ref>{{Citation| author = World Bank| contribution = Indonesia and Climate Change: Current Status and Policies| year = 2007| access-date = 2012-04-12| contribution-url = http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTINDONESIA/Resources/Environment/ClimateChange_Full_EN.pdf| title = Archived copy| archive-date = 2016-12-27| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161227202326/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTINDONESIA/Resources/Environment/ClimateChange_Full_EN.pdf| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Higgins |first=Andrew |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111804162.html |title=A climate threat, rising from the soil |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 19, 2009 |access-date=2012-12-30 |archive-date=2019-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024074040/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111804162.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Rainforest Agribusiness: palm oil====
[[Image:2008-09-22 - Rainforest Action Network activists @ CBOT - ADM,Bunge,Cargill protest 015.jpg|thumb|right|Rainforest Action Network activists, near Chicago Board of Trade, protest against the expansion of palm oil and soy plantations into critical ecosystems. September 22nd, 2008.]]
RAN's Rainforest Agribusiness campaign, The Problem With Palm Oil, centers around the [[social and environmental impact of palm oil]] plantations in the rainforests of [[Indonesia]] and [[Malaysia]]. [[Palm oil]] plantations in these areas result in the clearcutting of tropical hardwoods, the killing of local wildlife, the displacement of local communities and a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions.<ref>{{cite web
  | last = Richardson
  | first = Jill
  | title = Worst Food Additive Ever? It's in Half of All Foods We Eat and Its Production Destroys Rainforests and Enslaves Children
  | url = http://www.alternet.org/food/152848/worst_food_additive_ever_it%27s_in_half_of_all_foods_we_eat_and_its_production_destroys_rainforests_and_enslaves_children/?page=1
  | access-date = 2010-10-25
  | archive-date = 2012-01-05
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120105035647/http://www.alternet.org/food/152848/worst_food_additive_ever_it%27s_in_half_of_all_foods_we_eat_and_its_production_destroys_rainforests_and_enslaves_children/?page=1
  | url-status = live
  }}</ref> The campaign’s main target has been [[Cargill]], a privately owned agribusiness company and the largest supplier of palm oil to the United States.<ref>Jan Willem van Gelder, Greasy Palms: European Buyers of Indonesian Palm Oil, Friends of the Earth, 2004.</ref> While still applying pressure to Cargill, in 2010 RAN began campaigning for responsible use of palm oil by food production giant [[General Mills]] through direct action tactics, negotiation and membership engagement; eight months later General Mills issued a strong palm oil policy and committed to getting all of its palm oil from responsible sources by 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.generalmills.com/Home/Responsibility/Sourcing/palm_oil_statement.aspx |title=Statement on responsible palm oil sourcing |publisher=General Mills |date=September 22, 2010 |access-date=2012-12-30 |archive-date=2013-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122005702/http://generalmills.com/Home/Responsibility/Sourcing/palm_oil_statement.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
  | last = Koch
  | first = Wendy
  | title = General Mills boycotts palm oil that destroys rain forests
  | url = http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/09/general-mills-palm-oil-rainforest-destruction/1
  | date = 2010-09-24
  | access-date = 2012-06-08
  | archive-date = 2010-11-26
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101126220323/http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/09/general-mills-palm-oil-rainforest-destruction/1
  | url-status = live
  }}</ref> The campaign simultaneously collaborated with teenagers Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen to help them in their campaign to make Girl Scout Cookies palm-oil free.<ref>{{cite news|last=Walsh |first=Bryan |url=http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2074798,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602233939/http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2074798,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 2, 2011 |title=Making Girl Scout Cookies Better for the Planet |publisher=Time |date=May 31, 2011 |access-date=2012-12-30}}</ref> The two young women were awarded the prestigious [[Brower Youth Award]] for their work.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.broweryouthawards.org/userdata_display.php?modin=50&uid=10286 |title=2011 Award Winners |publisher=Brower Youth Awards |access-date=2012-12-30 |archive-date=2012-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524123028/http://broweryouthawards.org/userdata_display.php?modin=50&uid=10286 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Energy and Finance program===
The Energy and Finance campaign targets financial institutions involved in the financing of destructive forestry and fossil fuels projects. Historically, the campaign has succeeded in obtaining strong environmental policies from banks such as [[Citi]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://citizenship.citigroup.com/citi/citizen/finance/environment/mrcm.htm |title=Mountaintop Removal Mining Environmental Due Diligence Process |publisher=Citigroup.com |access-date=2012-12-30 |archive-date=2012-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720200233/http://citizenship.citigroup.com/citi/citizen/finance/environment/mrcm.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Bank of America]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://environment.bankofamerica.com/policies-and-practices/credit-policies.html |title=Credit Policies |publisher=Bank of America |access-date=2012-12-30 |archive-date=2012-07-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120705100825/http://environment.bankofamerica.com/policies-and-practices/credit-policies.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[JP Morgan Chase]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/Corporate-Responsibility/environment.htm |title=Environmental Sustainability at JPMorgan Chase |publisher=JPMorgan Chase |access-date=2012-12-30 |archive-date=2013-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116152646/http://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/Corporate-Responsibility/environment.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and others. Currently, the campaign focuses on discouraging banks' financing of coal projects, and especially [[mountaintop removal mining]] (MTR), principally within the United States. This form of [[surface mining]] uses millions of tons of explosives<ref>{{cite news
  | last = Cooper
  | first = Dave
  | title = Boulder from Mountaintop Coal Mine Smashes Into Kentucky Home
  | url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-cooper/boulder-from-mountaintop_b_279374.html
  | access-date = 2009-09-09
  | work = Huffington Post
  | date = 2009-09-09
  | archive-date = 2009-09-17
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090917091319/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-cooper/boulder-from-mountaintop_b_279374.html
  | url-status = live
  }}</ref> to blow apart mountain peaks in order to access the coal seam below. According to Rainforest Action Network, eight of nine banks that previously funded MTR have now established policies and criteria to restrict their funding of this devastating form of coal mining.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ran.org/success-stories |title=Success Stories |publisher=Rainforest Action Network |access-date=2012-12-30 |archive-date=2016-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103212505/http://www.ran.org/success-stories |url-status=dead }}</ref> Beginning in the Fall of 2011, the Energy and Finance Program has been campaigning to move Bank of America, whom they name as the leading US financier of the coal industry, to divest from their coal investments and invest in renewable energy sources.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/print-edition/2012/02/24/bofa-must-come-clean-on-coal.html |title=BofA must come clean on coal |publisher=Charlotte Business Journal |date=February 24, 2012 |access-date=2012-12-30 |archive-date=2012-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414224407/http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/print-edition/2012/02/24/bofa-must-come-clean-on-coal.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===We Can Change Chevron: toxic waste oil===
Launched in December 2009, the We Can Change Chevron campaign targets the California-based oil corporation for their subsidiary Texaco's dumping of {{convert|18|e9USgal|m3}} of [[waste oil]] into the [[Amazon Rainforest]] in [[Ecuador]].<ref name="csmonitor1">{{Cite journal
  | last = Llana
  | first = Sara Miller
  | title = Chevron fights massive lawsuit in Ecuador
  | journal = Christian Science Monitor
  | url = http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Living-Green/2009/0529/chevron-fights-massive-lawsuit-in-ecuador
  | access-date = 2009-05-29
  | date = 2009-05-29
  | archive-date = 2009-12-26
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091226012327/http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Living-Green/2009/0529/chevron-fights-massive-lawsuit-in-ecuador
  | url-status = live
  }}</ref> We Can Change Chevron aims to pressure Chevron into paying for the cleanup of the waste oil pits abandoned by their subsidiary, and to develop an environmental and human rights policy that will prevent future scenarios like this from occurring in the future. Chevron acquired Texaco in 2001, and asserts that Texaco completed its agreement to clean up its share of the waste generated by the joint venture between Texaco and Petroecuador, the state run oil company. The company claims it cleaned up one third of the waste, more than its share of the agreement with Petroecuador, and the rest of the responsibility lies with the state who has had sole ownership of the oil fields since 1992.<ref name="csmonitor1"/><ref>{{cite web
  | title = History of Texaco and Chevron in Ecuador
  | url = http://www.texaco.com/sitelets/ecuador/en/history/
  | access-date = 2010-12-13
  | archive-date = 2010-11-24
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101124145606/http://www.texaco.com/sitelets/ecuador/en/history/
  | url-status = dead
  }}</ref> The case resulted in a historic ruling against the oil giant, who was ordered to pay $18 billion in damages to the plaintiffs. After an appeal by Chevron, the judgement was upheld by an Ecuadorian court in January 2012.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gomez |first=Victor |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecuador-chevron-idUSTRE8021VS20120104 |title=Ecuador court upholds $18 billion ruling against Chevron |newspaper=Reuters |date=January 3, 2012 |access-date=2012-12-30 |archive-date=2016-03-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310173053/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecuador-chevron-idUSTRE8021VS20120104 |url-status=live }}</ref>