Jim Bohlen (July 4, 1926 – July 5, 2010) was an American engineer who worked on the

Atlas ICBM The SM-65 Atlas was the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family. It was built for the U.S. Air Force by the Convair Division of General Dy ...

missile program and later emigrated to Canada after becoming disillusioned with the US government's nuclear policy during the Cold War. He became one of the founders of Greenpeace. Bohlen, one of the approximately half-dozen founders of Greenpeace, arguably made the most lasting impression with his brilliant backroom dealings. He effectively out-manoeuvered more high-profile members of the group such as

Paul Watson Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American conservation and environmental activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine conservation activism. Th ...

within the organization's inner workings and can be primarily credited with transforming the organization from a small, vociferous Canadian pressure group into the highly efficient international movement it is today. Bohlen was a strong supporter of the creation of Greenpeace International and the move of the group's headquarters from

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, essentially giving birth to Greenpeace as we know it today. He was also instrumental in developing the group's hierarchical military-style command structure. He made a similar and even less-acknowledged contribution to Green politics in Canada by negotiating a deal that ended the party's 10-year prohibition against Green Parties having leaders at a meeting of the Green Party of BC in 1992. (Between 1982 and 1992, some Green Parties were required by law to have registered leaders but party constitutions prohibited these individuals from speaking for these parties.) Within four years of Bohlen's breakthrough agreement, all Canadian Green parties had moved to adopt conventional political structures in which their leaders functioned as primary spokespeople. Bohlen ran for the Greens federally in 1988. Some credit friction between him and long-time enemy Paul Watson for Watson's defection to the NDP during that campaign.

Bibliography

* Jim Bohlen, (2000). ''Making Waves: The Origin and Future of Greenpeace'', Black Rose Books. * James Bohlen, (1975). "New Pioneer's Handbook: ''Getting Back to the Land in an Energy-Scarce World". Schocken.

References

External links

"Jim Bohlen 1926 – 2010," Greenpeace International, Tuesday, July 6, 2010.

* ttps://vancouversun.com/health/Greenpeace+pioneer+Bohlen+dead/3248033/story.html Mackie, John. "Greenpeace pioneer Jim Bohlen dead at 84," ''The Vancouver Sun'', Friday, July 9, 2010. American Quakers Canadian environmentalists Green Party of British Columbia politicians American emigrants to Canada 1926 births 2010 deaths Green Party of Canada candidates in the 1988 Canadian federal election American anti–nuclear weapons activists Canadian anti–nuclear weapons activists People associated with Greenpeace {{environmentalist-stub