Eco-Traitor (Founder of Greenpeace is now voice of environmental reason)

Wired Magazine ^ | March 2004 | Drake Bennett

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

Three decades ago, Patrick Moore helped found Greenpeace. Today he promotes nuclear energy and genetically modified foods - and swears he's still fighting to save the planet.

Patrick Moore has been called a sellout, traitor, parasite, and prostitute - and that's by critics exercising self-restraint. It's not hard to see why they're angry. Moore helped found Greenpeace and devoted 15 years to waging the organization's flamboyant brand of environmental warfare. He campaigned against nuclear testing, whaling, seal hunting, pesticides, supertankers, uranium mining, and toxic waste dumping. As the nonprofit's scientific spokesperson, he was widely quoted and frequently photographed, often while being taken into custody.

[DoctorMichael]

Bump!

[RightWhale]

Why the sudden interest in Moore? This is at least the 2nd thread on him in 2 days.

[antiRepublicrat]

Why the sudden interest in Moore? This is at least the 2nd thread on him in 2 days.

The good guys need all the publicity they can get.

[RightWhale]

The good guys need all the publicity they can get.

It's possible to become a good guy after being a bad guy?

[HardStarboard]

Bump - read later!!

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

It's possible to become a good guy after being a bad guy?

Of course. Why wouldn't it be possible?

[antiRepublicrat]

It's possible to become a good guy after being a bad guy?

He wasn't necessarily a bad guy. He did a lot of stupid stuff, but it raised awareness that we need to start thinking about the environment (nobody really cared back then). As he said, that goal's been accomplished. While the rest of his old comrades are still wallowing in the "awareness" mode (which is now just counterproductive self-aggrandizement), he long ago realized it's time to start working for practical solutions rather than just bitching about everything. We need more of him.

[RightWhale]

Is this option open to anyone?

[RightWhale]

If we put it in terms of being a stupid guy becoming a smart guy, then no problem. All that takes is waking up. Worked for Paul.

[sam_paine]

I cautiously bought this book for an enviro-wacko friend and drop-shipped it, knowing that I had to pay in euros, and worried that it might be a wolf in sheepskin, but alas it's pretty good! I hope the guy is picked up by a bigger publisher.

[swilhelm73]

Interesting how the article is fairly darn critical. I'm sure had this guy stayed an enviro-waco, Wired would have been just as oppositional...right?

Anyway, the point here, which Wired only touches on incidentally, is that environmentalism has changed from being a philosophy that at least nominally tried to improve human life to one that sees human life as an unmitigated problem.
Not all environmentalists have fallen into the cult of Gaia, as for example Patrick Moore, but the vast majority have. They don't care if golden rice could save the eyesight of tens of thousands of third worlders, because to them, those tens of thousands of third worlders are a problem to be eliminated anyway.

[TheMole]

They should have given a link to Moore's website.

Greenspirit