> > From: > Adam Maas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > John Sessoms wrote: >>> From: >>> Bob Sullivan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>> In this case, I am a bit suspicious. The climatologists have way too >>> much incentive to find that 'The Sky Is Falling!' If it is, they are >>> terribly important people and we must pay absolute attention to >>> everything they say. If it isn't, then their work is just another >>> 'ho-hum' fact in the ebb and flow of our planet. >> The problem I have is it looks to me like the most vocal critics of >> global warming are themselves politically and financially motivated >> by who is paying for their research. I don't know of any scientist >> global warming critic who doesn't have some kind of ties to major >> industries who stand to have to spend some money if action is taken >> to reduce our effect on the environment. >> >> As far as I can tell, all of the independents either see global >> warming as a problem or a potential problem. It's not a question of >> whether we're damaging our environment, but how soon that damage will >> become so severe it will affect our chances of survival. And what >> sacrifice is required, and who will make that sacrifice to prevent >> that day from coming. Finally whether it is already too late or not. >> > > Actually, there's at least one. One of the founders of Greenpeace > publicly split with Greenpeace a few years ago over the issue of > Global Warming along with Greenpeace's increasing Luddite tendencies. > > -Adam Well, Actually, no there's not.
Patrick Moore left Greenpeace 20 years ago, not just "a few years". And his so-called "Clean and Safe Energy Coalition" turns out to be financed by the Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade association for the nuclear power industry. The "Clean and Safe Energy Coalition" is astro-turf, not grass roots, financed entirely by the nuclear power industry. Nor are CASEnergy Coalition critics of global warming theories. They exploit those theories to argue for more reliance on; less government supervision of; and greater government subsidies to the nuclear power industry. Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, GWB's first director of the EPA, is one of the group's leaders. As head of the EPA, she challenged the validity of a government-commissioned report suggesting a human contribution to global warming. Whitman appeared twice in New York City after the September 11 attacks to inform New Yorkers that the toxins released by the attacks posed no threat to their health. And the EPA released a report in which Whitman said, "Given the scope of the tragedy from last week, I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, D.C. that their air is safe to breathe and their water is safe to drink." Yet, a 2003 report by the EPA's inspector general determined that such assurances were misleading. The EPA "did not have sufficient data and analyses" to justify them when the report was issued. Further, the report found that the White House had used the National security council to control EPA communications and "convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones" after the September 11 attacks. Whitman is now a lobbyist with Whitman Strategy Group. According to their own website, the Nuclear Energy Institute is "the policy organization of the nuclear energy and technologies industry and participates in both the national and global policy-making process. NEI's objective is to ensure the formation of policies that promote the beneficial uses of nuclear energies and technologies in the United States and around the world." NEI was founded in 1994, by merging the Nuclear Utility Management and Resources Council, the U.S. Council for Energy Awareness, the American Nuclear Energy Council, and the nuclear division of the Edison Electric Institute. NUMARC and USCEA were created by the Atomic Industrial Forum, which "was created by the nuclear power industry in 1953 to focus on the beneficial uses of nuclear energy," and created the "Atoms for Peace" PR campaign. A partial list of NEI subsidary CASEnergy Coalition's *"members"* includes: *ABB* - "global leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers ..." "In addition to ABB's automation activities directed at the oil and gas industries, ABB Lummus Global continues to design and supply production facilities, refineries and petrochemical plants." *American Nuclear Insurers* - "Our origin was the Price-Anderson Act, an amendment to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. This Act encouraged the commercial development of nuclear energy and established a framework for handling potential liability claims." note: the Price-Anderson Act required companies to obtain the maximum possible insurance cover against accidents, determined to be $60 million, and provided a further government commitment of $500 million to cover any claims in excess of the private insurance. Companies were relieved of any liability beyond the insured amount for any incident involving radiation or radioactive releases regardless of fault or cause. The act was intended to be temporary, and to expire in August 1967 as it was assumed that once the companies had demonstrated a record of safe operation they would be able to obtain insurance in the private market. As of today, the Price-Anderson Act is still in effect, and the nuclear power industry has still *not* obtained full private liability insurance. *Alliance for Sound Nuclear Policy* - "In statements made to the media, the Alliance has claimed to represent "more than 26 million consumers, seniors, environmentalists, business leaders and union members," but the group does not have a Web site and is not registered as a lobbyist organization. However, Public Citizen has learned that the Alliance is housed at the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the nuclear industry’s lobbying organization. Alliance director Sherry Reilly has worked for NEI in public relations for several years." ""This group appears to be intentionally obscuring information about its membership and funding," said Joan Claybrook, Public Citizen president. "This Alliance is nothing more than a front group for NEI. Its pro-Yucca Mountain advertising campaign, which claims to represent the views of consumers, is misleading and disingenuous absent full disclosure of the Alliance’s close ties to the commercial nuclear industry."" Bechtel Power Corporation CMS Energy Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (?????????) DTE Energy Duke Power Company Edison Electric Institute Entergy Corporation FirstEnergy Corp. Florida Power & Light (absorbed by Progress Energy) GE Energy General Atomics International Paper iNuclear National Association of Manufacturers Nuclear Energy Institute PG&E Corporation Progress Energy Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) Sandia National Laboratories Scientech, LLC Westinghouse Electric Company Here's an excerpt from a 2006 NY Times Article on Moore and his group: http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30B16F8395B0C768EDDAD0894DE404482 or http://tinyurl.com/yms665 =+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+= The New York Times April 25, 2006 Ex-Environmental Leaders Tout Nuclear Energy By MATTHEW L. WALD The nuclear industry has hired Christie Whitman, the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace, the environmental organization, to lead a public relations campaign for new reactors. ------------- Mrs. Whitman headed the E.P.A. when it published rules for the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. After she left the office, the courts threw out the rules because they covered only the first 10,000 years of waste storage, while peak releases of radiation were expected after that time. Organizers released a list of 58 companies and institutions and 10 people who they said were members of a new Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, which Mr. Moore said would engage in ''grass-roots advocacy.'' A spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the trade association of reactor operators, acknowledged that it was providing all of the financing, but would not say what the budget was. Mr. Moore said he favored efficiency and renewable energy, but added that solar cells, which produce electricity from sunlight, were ''being given too much emphasis and taking too much money.'' A dollar spent on geothermal energy, he said, was ''10 to 12 times more effective in reducing greenhouse emissions.'' Mr. Moore is the director of a company that distributes geothermal systems in Canada. He is also a supporter of what he called ''sustainable forestry'' because, he said, building with wood avoided the use of materials whose manufacture releases greenhouse gases, like steel and concrete. =+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+= It would appear Mr. Moore has his own financial ax to grind. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
