Greenpeace

If you thought the Netherlands had only the multinationals, Shell and Unilever, you missed one.

It is run from a central command in Amsterdam, with offices in 30 countries. A well-managed, lean and mean, fast acting corporation, with good logistics, networked by computers, and -- according to its executive director -- with half of its $33 million annual budget, and 25 percent of its staff, available for publicity stunts and outrage creation ("contingencies" they call it).

As with any multinational, it is planning to expand to Asia. The alarm will be: "Development is choking Asian cities with pollution!" If, one of these days, a construction a worker sees some weirdoes climbing one of those huge cranes you see in Kuningan, or an Angkutan Kota (city transport) driver sees a banner blocking Jl. Gatot Subroto; call The Jakarta Post, RCTI and TVRI. Asia: Greenpeace is coming to town!

This is my last letter on environmentalism, unless "junk science" assertions, or a letter insulting the intelligence of The Jakarta Post readers is published by environmentalists.

The answers from other readers on the issue confirmed what I suspected: environmentalism fulfills a religious need of westerners.

OSVALDO COELHO

Bandung, West Java