Greenpeace campaign against Mercury Paper parent spurs opposing group

By Kaitlin Mayhew -- kmayhew@nvdaily.com

STRASBURG -- A new organization has been launched in response to a Greenpeace campaign against companies such as the local Mercury Paper, which purchases products from Asia Pulp and Paper.

The Coalition to Protect Virginia Jobs officially formed on Thursday as a joint effort of the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity and the Virginia Federation of Tea Party Patriots.

Audrey Jackson, executive director with the state Americans for Prosperity chapter, said the coalition resulted from a conversation with Mark Lloyd, chairman of the Tea Party organization.

"[We] were talking about the ways that we could work to protect Virginia jobs. I shared the concerns that we had with Greenpeace's false accusations," Jackson said. "We thought it would be a great way to draw attention to the issue at hand."

Greenpeace has launched a campaign urging many retailers, such as Kmart, Food Lion and Kroger, to stop purchasing paper products produced by Asia Pulp and Paper or its subsidiaries. The organization claims that Asia Pulp and Paper is destroying valuable rain forests in Indonesia, which is the habitat for native animals such as tigers.

The campaign has generated a strong response from elected officials, mostly Republicans. Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling; Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock; state Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg; and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-6th, have all sent letters to CEOs of many of the targeted retailers asking them to continue stocking the Asia Pulp and Paper products.

Paul Rundle, special adviser on corporate and government affairs for Mercury Paper, maintains that the tree harvesting practices of Asia Pulp and Paper are environmentally sound.

"I would absolutely tell you that [the claims] are unfounded," he said earlier this month. "There is a lot of hearsay of APP not using sustainable practices, but [the company] far exceeds the national and international sanctions required of it."

Representatives from Greenpeace remained unconvinced, however. Rolf Skar said he has seen satellite data, photos and on-the-ground evidence that Asia Pulp and Paper is leveling irreplaceable rain-forest land.

"It depends on your definition of degraded [land]," he said. "The fact remains that if you map it out and go to those places you'll see that APP, as they have been doing for years, is driving the destruction of rain-forest habitats in Sumatra."

Jackson said she sees the campaign as a direct attack on Virginia jobs.

"It's an issue that both myself and our partners have recognized," she said. "Organizations like Greenpeace have a mission to shut down economic activity in the name of their radical anti-business agenda."

She said the goal of the coalition is to encourage its members as well as others in the community to reach out to the CEOs of the retailers and tell them "we want Virginia products."

"These 150 jobs in Strasburg are very important," she said. "We are very concerned and we want to protect them."

Over the weekend representatives from the coalition handed out fliers to customers in the parking lot of a Richmond Kroger with information about the campaign.

"Kroger is a huge business partner in Virginia," Jackson said. "They have a significant amount of stores and they employ a lot of folks too. Hopefully, our efforts have been heard by them."