Environmental Activism at a Cost: Greenpeace and the Nazca Lines

LIMA, PERU –The environmental activist group Greenpeace has long stood for defending the Earth and all of its creatures, a mission which earth-centered Pagans are likely to support. The organization has been on the front lines of fights against whaling, the toppling of ancient trees, the single-minded pursuit of oil without regard for secondary damages, and has also lobbied for full nuclear disarmament, sought safer alternatives to toxic chemicals, and encouraged sustainable agriculture over genetically modified organisms.

On Dec. 8, however, a group of Greenpeace activists, seeking to attract the attention of United Nations delegates attending the climate talks in Lima, wound up attracting the world’s attention in a bad way. They placed a large message in support of renewable energy adjacent to one of the nearby Nacza Line drawings. While the words themselves were formed using large pieces of yellow cloth, the footprints left by the Greenpeace members irreparably damaged this UNESCO Heritage Site, according to Peruvian authorities.