Rainforest Action Network Stops Mitsubishi's Massive Raw Log Export Ship
10/29/96
OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
Following is a press release from RAN which details their daring direct action
to draw attention to export logging in the United States. It is unconscionable
that once over logging of ancient forests continues in the U.S. where less than
4% of the original native forest cover remains. Mitsubishi is the largest
destroyer of rainforests in the world. Please Boycott Mitsubishi.
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 12:56:25 -0800 (PST)
From: ranmedia@ran.org (Mark Westlund)
Subject: Activists stop Mitsubishi logging ship in WA
For Immediate Release, October 29, 1996
Contact Mark Westlund--ranmedia@ran.org
RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK STOPS MITSUBISHI'S
MASSIVE RAW LOG EXPORT SHIP!
DEMONSTRATORS TAKE DARING DIRECT ACTION TO
PREVENT SHIP FROM LEAVING PORT
LONGVIEW, Washginton -- Today at dawn, activists from Rainforest Action
Network shut down the massive raw log export ship, *Super Rubin*, at the
port of Longview, WA. Three climbers rappelled off the side of the boat
with a 60 foot banner. The message reads "PROTECT OUR FORESTS, STOP RAW LOG
EXPORTS, BOYCOTT MITSUBISHI!" Three more demonstrators have secured
themselves to perches high atop the ship's loading cranes, and four people
have locked themselves by the neck of the deck of the Super Rubin to halt
the destruction and export of Northwest forests.
*Super Rubin* is one of many ships used by Mitsubishi to export unprocessed
timber from Oregon and Washington to various destinations overseas. From
January to August of 1996, 104,000 tons of raw logs were exported by
Mitsubishi from the Longview, WA port alone, which accounts for only 19% of
the total shipments documented for that time. Mitsubishi is the largest
corporation in the world and one of the largest exporters of whole logs
from Washington and Oregon, causing the loss of thousands of US jobs.
In addition to its exporting logs from the Pacific Northwest, Mitsubishi
Corporation trades in logs and runs destructive logging operations in
Canada, Southeast Asia and the Amazon. An independent study done this year
by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that Mitsubishi's global
operations make it the world's worst destroyer of rainforests. For
instance, a Mitsubishi-operated disposable chop-stick factory in British
Colombia's temperate rainforest discards 85% of the trees it cuts down
because the wood isn't white enough.
Mitsubishi's log exports heavily impact the Northwest by severely damaging
our forest ecosystems and exporting jobs overseas. Local communities that
depend on sustainable logging practices are left in environmental and
economic turmoil as saw mills close up and down the US Pacific coast. The
protesters are calling for a boycott of all Mitsubishi products until the
corporate giant halts the destruction and export of our Northwest forest.
Rainforest Action Network works to protect the Earth's rainforests and
support the rights of their inhabitants through education, grassroots
organizing, and non-violent direct action.