From the care2 news:

http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2006/03/environmental_groups.html

A Guide to Environmental Non-Profits

News: How to distinguish groups doing good from ones that just sound good.

By Jonathan Stein and Michael Beckel

March/April 2006 Issue

With so many environmental groups sporting similar names and missions, what's an interested citizen to do? How can anyone distinguish between the "Center for Whale Research" and the "Institute for Cetacean Research"? Between "Wildlife Trust" and "The Wildlife Trusts"? "The Ocean Conservancy" and "Conserve Our Ocean Legacy"?

You can—and must. The Center for Whale Research, for instance, monitors killer whales in the Pacific Northwest, but the Institute for Cetacean Research is a front group for Japanese whaling interests. Very different. Wildlife Trust is a group for empowering American scientists, while The Wildlife Trust is a leading coalition of conservation activists in the United Kingdom. And, well, The Ocean Conservancy and Conserve Our Ocean Legacy are on the same side of the issue and both operate from Washington, D.C.

The list below summarizes the work of many groups that work for the ocean, as well as a handful of the organizations working against the ocean under misleading names and mission statements. (This survey is not exhaustive.)

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