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THE TRUE GREEN REPORT

Co-founder says Greenpeace has lost its way

by Judi McLeod, Editor
April, 1999

With the kind of savvy that evolves from a lifetime of looking down a microscope, he became "a logical positivist" and "a believer in the scientific method as the path to truth". Rooted in science and logic, backed up with a Ph.D, Dr. Patrick Moore, is blessed with that rare brand of humour where one never takes oneself too seriously.

Anti-hype and by-the-book, he's a brilliant communicator who can convey scientific knowledge in layman's terms.

To those still on the other side, he's "eco-Judas" and the man who knows too much.

A respected leader in the international environmental field for more than 25 years, Dr. Moore is no less than a founding member of Greenpeace, having served for nine years as President of Greenpeace Canada, with seven years as a Director of Greenpeace International.

As the leader of many campaigns, Dr. Moore was a driving force shaping policy and direction while Greenpeace became the world's largest environmental activist organization.

With this kind of inside information, it’s little wonder why Toronto-based Greenpeace activist Bob Hunter, once Moore's "best friend" dubbed the erudite biologist/ecologist with the "eco-Judas" nickname.

Asked why he disagrees with Greenpeace, Moore responds: "They've gone political…the whole environmental movement has gone left."

"Greenpeace," he said, "has a political activist agenda clothed in environmental rhetoric."

A far way across the line for a man who ardently believes that “environmentalism must be beyond nationalism, politics and ideology.”

And, if there are those who notice that Greenpeace seems to choose its target groups according to the calendar (toy industry pre-Christmas, medical tubing in Red Cross month), Dr. Moore believes that the move from environmental to political for Greenpeace coincides with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

"With the end of the Berlin Wall, left wing activism no longer had a place."

To the possible chagrin of Greenpeace, Dr. Patrick Moore is alive and well in Winter Harbour on Vancouver Island, where he is in active pursuit of noble ideas.

Recently, he has been focused on British Columbia and the promotion of sustainability and consensus building among competing concerns. In life after Greenpeace, Dr. Moore was a member of the B.C. government-appointed the Round Table on the environment and economy from 1990-1994. In 1990, Dr. Moore founded and chaired the B.C. Carbon Project, a multi-stakeholder group that worked to develop a common understanding of climate change.

As Chair of the Forest Practices Committee of the Forest Alliance of B.C., he leads the process of developing the "Principles of Sustainable Forestry" which have been adopted by a majority of the industry.

Dr. Moore says it was during his university years that he suddenly realized there was more to life than logic and materialism: "I discovered ecology and realized this branch of science was unique. Through ecology it was possible to link rational thought with spiritual wonder, to consider the infinite webs and cycles of life with new eyes. Ecology is holistic as in holy, yet it is rooted in objective science and observation. I decided it was a good idea to "save" the earth from nuclear war and pollution. I was reborn as a radical environmental activist. Greenpeace began and I began with it.

"We sailed the seas saving whales, protesting nuclear testing and nuclear dumping, halting supertankers, saving baby seals, preventing toxic waste discharge and interfering with drift-nets. They were heady times with countless moments of excitement, danger, frustration and victory.

"Fifteen years of Greenpeace campaigns later, I had some new insights. It was time to switch from confrontation to consensus, time to stop fighting and start talking with people in charge. I became a convert to the idea of sustainable development and the need to consider social and economic issues along with my environmental values. I adopted the round table, consensus approach as the logical next step in the evolution of the movement for sustainability."

No doomsayer, Dr. Moore believes there are "at least as many positive trends in the world as there are negative ones. We are no more headed for doomsday than we are for nirvana (unless a large asteroid hits the earth in which case we will go to both places simultaneously)."

Greenpeace has a kind of Robert Louis Stevenson appeal that sends young lads off to bed with visions of pirates and crossbones.

Greenpeace activists, flower children of the 70s, retain an image of being the Peter Pans of our oceans and seas.

In the imagination of the writer of this piece, the activists keep the larder of Rainbow Warrior well stocked with iced champagne, lobster and caviar.

Not too far from reality Dr. Moore confirmed.

"They have not one Rainbow Warrior, but a bunch of boats. And there's plenty of beer and sometimes shrimp."

The best remedy for fighting off the hype and myth sometimes manufactured by Greenpeace?

"Truth based on scientific fact," is the best antidote to hype, says the man who knows better than most about activist tactics.

Hype and half-truths notwithstanding there is one thing that Greenpeace will never change. That is something Dr. Moore keeps as his philosophy: "Environmentalism must be beyond nationalism, politics and ideology."

Greenpeace hypocrisy revealed:

Monthly giving plan encourages Chlorine

Greenpeace activists exercise know-how and plain entrepreneurial smarts to collect your money. They claim to have "the support of 250,000 supporters across the country" in their history, Greenpeace Canada Today. But in a recent internet ad, in which the organization is looking for a new executive director, another figure is used. Nowhere in the internet ad is the word 'environment' even mentioned. "Greenpeace Canada wishes to hire a new Executive Director to work in Toronto. The organization is supported by over 130,000 Canadians, with other offices in Vancouver and Montreal. The successful candidate for the position will have a minimum of three years' experience as a senior manager of a non-profit organization, a public institution, or a business. The candidate should have the ability to converse in both French and English and a proven grasp of financial management challenges of an international organization."

In the tear-out form entitled Greenpeace's Monthly Giving Plan, the fine print on the bottom informs donors they are not eligible for income tax credit.

"So Greenpeace can maintain freedom of action on environmental issues your donation is not eligible for income tax credit," is the Greenpeace explanation.

It might be more factual to state..."So (that) Greenpeace can keep the money, your donation is NOT eligible for income tax credit.

Credit cards are made with PVC (polyvinyl chloride). PVC credit cards cannot be made without chlorine, now under intense attack by Greenpeace.

Caveat emptor: banning chlorine will lead to deaths, as it did in Peru in 1995 when the authorities in that country temporarily stopped disinfecting their water supply. Time Magazine didn’t cite the use of chlorine in water supply as one of the most major achievements in the 20th Century for nothing.

GREENPEACE CHOOSES POLITICIAN AS LEADER

Just in time for the provincial election campaign, former Toronto city councillor Peter Tabuns steps in as the new head honcho of Greenpeace Canada, this country’s largest environmental activist group.

In the fullness of time, his official starting day of April 1 could prove prophetic.

As far as is known, Tabun's appointment marks the first time the lucrative Greenpeace has shunned erudite applicants from the field of science for a hardline career politician.

As a former east-end councillor for the City of Toronto, the over zealous Tabuns, arguably, did more to jeopardize the business community than any other elected politician. As an off-the-wall former chairman of the city's public health committee, Tabuns once tried to conduct a public boycott of Harvey's Hamburgers, all for the fast-food company's modest pre-election contribution to the provincial Progressive Conservative Party. (Even his left-wing following abandoned the boycott idea when it became known that Harveys had contributed to all mainline provincial parties.)

A fierce anti-smoking advocate, it was Tabuns who cost City of Toronto taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars when the city had to abandon an anti-smoking bylaw in all restaurants and bars, because it could not be enforced. He was also responsible for the bath Toronto taxpayers took when the courts overturned his successful city council motion to ban the circus from coming to town.

Greenpeace watchdogs registered surprise when the group chose a defeated municipal politician as its new leader.

But the appointment of a politician to the Greenpeace helm fits with the revelation that Ontario environmentalists' have a blueprint to raise a stink in upcoming provincial elections.

Environmentalists still brag about something they refer to as "The incident". It was in 1990 when David Peterson kicked off his election campaign at a press conference. Peterson was taken by surprise by publicity hound Greenpeace campaigner Gord Perks, who pumped up the volume on a portable stereo, where the media was forced to hear a recorded litany of what he felt were the Liberal government's greatest environmental sins. The Liberals, who then enjoyed a track record for fighting acid rain, were bombarded by a heckling Perks for the duration of the campaign.

There are some political pundits who claim that Tabuns will use Greenpeace as his personal opposition party to the Ontario Progressive Conservatives. According to them, the socialists are on the rise again.

Reportedly still burning from the bum's rush he got out of municipal politics, when the name of a phantom candidate with a similar surname appeared on the Ward 8 ballot, Tabuns is more the idealogue than ever.

As of April 1, 1999, Peter Tabuns is an idealogue with a mission.

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com



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