Greenpeace activists living in a dream world

By Patrick MOORE (in TorontoSUN)

Date: 01.12.11

Abstract:

     This article criticizes Greenpeace's opposition to the Canadian government about the oil sands. Let us note that this paper was written by a former activist of Greenpeace.

Quotation:


"As environmental activists fly to Durban, South Africa to attack Canada’s climate change position at the UN climate change talks, I can’t stand idly by while false allegations continue to be made about one of Canada’s most innovative and important industries: The oil sands.
Canadian oil is no “dirtier” than any other oil." [...]

[...] "But I find a degree of hypocrisy among activists who paint oil companies as environmental criminals while many of these same critics go about driving, flying, and otherwise enjoying the benefits of living in a society that depends on oil for over one-third of its energy.
Greenpeace takes an aerial picture of a Canadian oil sands mining operation and suggests this is the way it will look — forever. It fails to tell the public the mine is a temporary disturbance and — by law — oil sands companies are required to return the site to a thriving ecosystem, with native trees and shrubs and lakes." [...]

[...] "Compared to the six largest oil exporters (Nigeria, Kuwait, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Saudi Arabia), Canada is far ahead on leading social and environmental indicators:
n The World Health Organization says Canada has some of the cleanest air in the world."[...]

[...] "Anti-oil sands activist groups like Greenpeace, which I helped found, live in a dream world where they hope to replace fossil fuels, nuclear and hydro energy — by far the majority of the world’s energy supply — with unreliable, intermittent and expensive wind and solar power.
The world needs oil now and we’ll need it for the foreseeable future — so it matters greatly where that oil comes from.
If any oil is to be labeled “dirty”, shouldn’t it be the oil coming from dictatorial regimes in Russia and the Middle East, rather than friendly and democratic Canada?"


Index terms:
Greenpeace, Canada, oil, critical

Found with: Google Alerts "Greenpeace"
URL:  http://www.torontosun.com/2011/12/01/greenpeace-activists-living-in-a-dream-world