The New Action Orientation

The appointment of Phillip G. Radford as the new Executive Director of Greenpeace in the United States marks a critical and decisive step toward constituency-based activism for the iconic green group. It also marks a move to empower a younger generation of campaigners who are fired up by the climate crisis and who were central to the Obama victory last November.

Radford, 33, is credited as Greenpeace's top grassroots organizer in the US, an experienced fundraiser and political activist with a reputation for focusing on measurable campaign outcomes. His arrival in the organization is recent -- 2003 -- but his impact has been significant. When I took over as Chair of the Board in 2000, Greenpeace in the US was a shadow of its former self: Self-absorbed, drifting, shrinking in stature, and bereft of strong, effective campaigns. Radford was part of the team (which included outgoing ED John Passacantando, Campaign Director Lisa Finaldi, and Ops Director Ellen McPeake, among others) that rebuilt the street-level presence and credibility that Greenpeace has always depended on to make its daring high-profile protests resonate in the living rooms of the nation. Into the bargain, the group has doubled its fundraising and invested heavily in the new American youth movement (through fellowships, mobilizing drives, and a quasi-militaristic foot canvass in dozens of cities). (Go here for the NYT story on Radford's appointment)

Among the big international green groups, Greenpeace takes the strongest stands, and -- contrary to the expectations which that might elicit -- gets the most done. That has been true around the world but hard to claim for the American wing since the early 1990s -- until now.

Old-timers in the rest of the Greenpeace world (and they are legion) may be nervous that the direct action roots of the group are disappearing under the thicket of grassroots lobbying tactics that Radford represents. But in America today, power is the sound of millions of feet on pavement, and that is where Greenpeace USA is finding its strength and inspiration.

(Go here for a vast compendium of high quality images of Greenpeace's past work.)