Earth Liberation Front

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The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) is the collective name for anonymous and autonomous cells that, according to the, now defunct, Earth Liberation Front Press Office (ELFPO), "uses direct action in the form of economic sabotage to stop the exploitation and destruction of the natural environment." [1] Cells have been active in the United States, Canada, Greece, and the United Kingdom where the movement was founded. ELF sympathizers say that it is an eco-defense group dedicated to taking the profit motive out of environmental destruction by targeting and causing economic damage to businesses through the use of direct action [2]. The ELF has committed more than 1,200 acts of vandalism and arson in the U.S., causing more than $200 million in damage. [3]

The ELF was classified as the top domestic domestic terror threat by the FBI in March 2001 [4]. However, supporters and sympathizers of the group usually object to being called terrorists because no human has been injured by any action claimed by the ELF. The ELF's guidelines require that individuals or groups acting on its behalf "take all necessary precautions against harming any animal - human and nonhuman." [5]

Their techniques involve destruction of property that they believe is being used to injure animals, people or the environment. This vandalism and arson has been labeled ecotage and there are marked differences between the actions in the United States and in United Kingdom. The Earth Liberation Front has no formal leadership, membership or official spokesperson; instead it consists of individuals or small groups who choose to use the term. However, the FBI claims activist Rod Coronado is "a national leader" of the ELF in the USA, while Coronado describes himself as an "unofficial ELF spokesman" [6]. Craig Rosebraugh served as an unofficial spokesperson for the ELF from 1997 to early September 2001 [7].

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History

The Earth Liberation Front was founded in 1992 in Brighton, England by members of the "Earth First!" environmental movement. The name was derived from the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), a group that uses similar tactics to liberate animals or sabotage companies abusing them. [8] In the September-October 1993 issue of the Earth First! Journal, an anonymous article announced the creation of the ELF in England. It said the ELF "is a movement of independently operating eco-saboteurs" that split from the "British EF! movement, which has focused directly on public direct actions." The author noted that, unlike the ALF which seeks publicity, "ELF cells, for security reasons, work without informing the press and do not claim responsibility for actions... The surest way to be done for conspiracy or to attract surveillance or infiltrators is to seek attention."

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Earth Liberation Front in the UK

In contrast to their US counterparts, the actions of the ELF in the United Kingdom have have mainly focused around small, unreported, covert ecotage, and have fallen short of eco-terrorism or major arson. Such actions are often attributed to the "elves" and "pixies", a pun on the acronym. ELF(UK) has never had its own media outlets; instead actions have been reported in EF!(UK) publications such as Action Update and Do or Die!. Many acts were reported around co-ordinated Earth Nights or protest camps connected with road-building, airports, or quarrying. Since 1996 virtually no actions have been claimed by the UK ELF, although covert ecotage does continue [9] (pdf).

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Guidelines

Any direct action to halt the destruction of the environment and adhering to the strict nonviolence guidelines, listed below, can be considered an ELF action. Economic sabotage and property destruction fall within these guidelines.[10]

  1. To inflict maximum economic damage on those profiting from the destruction and exploitation of the natural environment.
  2. To reveal and educate the public about the atrocities committed against the earth and all species that populate it.
  3. To take all necessary precautions against harming any animal - human and nonhuman.
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Actions and police responses

See Timeline of Earth Liberation Front actions

ELF "monkeywrenching" (a euphemism for acts of sabotage and vandalism) has been carried out against facilities and companies involved in logging, genetic engineering, home building, automobile sales, energy production and distribution, and a wide variety of other activities, all charged by ELF with exploiting the environment. Individuals work in autonomous affinity groups and are self-funded.[11]

In late 2005 and early 2006, as part of Operation Backfire, US grand juries indicted a total of 18 activists on a range of charges related to "violent acts in the name of animal rights and environmental causes" [12]. According to the FBI, many of these acts were carried out on behalf of the ELF [13]. Although some of those arrested deny any affliation with the ELF [14], others, including Rod Coronado, have established ties to the group [15].

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Criticism of ELF

The FBI refer to the ELF as "eco-terrorists" [16] and critics consider it luck, more than anything, that no one has been killed by the ELF's arson [17] (pdf). Some mainstream environmental groups and advocates condemn the ELF for using violence (against property), and claim that their approach does more harm than good to their cause [18]. Some question whether ELF's actions in fact harm the environment, a spokesman for the Vail Ski Resort, which the ELF fire bombed in 1998 in protest of a planned extention, explained, "more logs were used to rebuild the resort than were cut for the [original] expansion" [19] (pdf).

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In popular culture

Folk musician David Rovics performs a song dedicated to the ELF called "Song for the Earth Liberation Front" [20] as well as a song about accused ELF activist, Jeffrey Luers titled "Free", after Luers' nickname. [21]

Edward Abbey published The Monkey Wrench Gang in 1975. The book is thought to be the inspiration for the formation of Earth First!, but more closely resembles the ELF. In 1989 he published a sequel Hayduke Lives.

In the 2004 novel by Michael Crichton, State of Fear, ELF is cited as the main villain. However, in the book the acronym stands for Environmental Liberation Front.

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See also

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External links

fr:Earth Liberation Front nl:Earth Liberation Front

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