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Greenpeace Founder Supports Nuclear Power

Burlington, Vermont - November 6, 2009

A co-founder of the environmental activist group Greenpeace argued in favor of nuclear power during Vermont appearances Friday. To many environmentalists, Patrick Moore is a heretic. But Moore urged a classroom of students to think critically about environmental issues -- and not to dismiss nuclear power out of hand.

Moore addressed a class at Champlain College called the Scientific Revolution. He was a co-founder of Greenpeace, although according to many environmentalists he's been committing heresy. That's because Moore, who heads a consulting firm, challenges common assumptions of the environmental movement, including the linchpin assertion that most global warming is man-made.

"There are snake oil salesmen and there are con-artists," he said, "and there are people trying to sell you a bill of goods and the Brooklyn Bridge all through society. They're going to come at you trying to tell you that they've got the answer. And you've got to be able to think critically."

Greenpeace earned its high-profile reputation by launching campaigns against nuclear weapons testing -- and later, targeting big polluting industries. Moore says he quit Greenpeace in 1986. Today he tells anyone who will listen that nuclear power is safe and clean, compared with dirtier fossil fuels.

A student asked, "I was just wondering, if nuclear power plants are so safe, why haven't they been built, or why hasn't the U. S. built one in, like, thirty years?"

"That's a very big question," Moore responded. "Because the environmental movement launched a major campaign against building any new nuclear plant, and for example on Long Island in New York they built a huge nuclear plant called Shoreham, and then they weren't allowed to turn it on, and so they lost $6 billion. In addition, Three Mile Island happened in 1979, and sent a huge shock wave of scare through the nation."

Moore said hardly anyone noticed that Three Mile Island's safety systems worked. No radiation escaped and no one was hurt.

A current field organizer for Greenpeace, Mark Floegel, joined his former colleague after we invited him to comment. Later, he accused Moore of trading on the Greenpeace name while working with pro-nuclear power clients -- including a business-backed group called the Vermont Energy Partnership.

He said, "We at Greenpeace today and in the past have worked very hard to give people accurate information about what we need to do to protect our environment. And now, Patrick is working for people who would harm our environment -- and he's doing it just for money."

Moore says key questions of science have become "highly charged politically." He told the students to remember the importance of critical thinking.

Andy Potter - WCAX News