Environmental Movement Has Lost Its Way

The National Center’s Ryan Balis has suggested I recommended this Miami Herald op-ed by Patrick Moore to blog readers.

Moore is a founder of the environmental group Greenpeace.

In the op-ed, Moore explains why he left Greenpeace (“By the mid-1980s, the environmental movement had abandoned science and logic in favor of emotion and sensationalism. I became aware of the emerging concept of sustainable development: balancing environmental, social and economic priorities. Converted to the idea that win-win solutions could be found by bringing all interests together, I made the move from confrontation to consensus.”).

He also complains that the present day environmental movement brings us “environmental policies that ignore science and result in increased risk to human health and ecology,” and explains. Sample sentences:

On Greenpeace wanting to ban vinyl: “Apart from lowering construction costs and delivering safe drinking water, vinyl’s ease of maintenance and its ability to incorporate anti-microbial properties is critical to fighting germs in hospitals.”

On nuclear power: “Nuclear energy is the only nongreenhouse gas-emitting power source that can effectively replace fossil fuels and satisfy global demand.”

On activists who want to stop tree harvesting: “If we want to retain healthy forests, we should be growing more trees and using more wood, not less.”

On the campaign against salmon farming: “Salmon farming takes pressure off wild stocks, yet activists tell us to eat only wild fish. Is this how we save them, by eating more?”

I’d like to quote more, but then I would be quoting the whole thing.



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