Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout: The Making of a Sensible Environmentalist [Paperback]

Greenpeace Iconoclast

This book makes it clear as to why Patrick Moore (not to be confused with the astronomer of the same name) seriously fell out with Greenpeace and lost nearly all his close friends in this organisation and is still much reviled today by many fundamentalist Greenpeace activists as a renegade and traitor to their holy cause. But he has a broad lumberjack's back and got used to it. Moore departed from Greenpeace, fifteen years after he helped to create it, to become amongst other things an environmental consultant. A new Green Messiah always willing to help steer repugnant big business and industry to a greener, friendlier and of course more profitable future with much enhanced public relations. Nobody can feel neutral about Moore after reading this book or confused about what the words Renewable, Clean, Sustainable and Green, really mean. At the end of 376 closely packed pages the reader is probably going to be rather less neutral and more seriously informed. There is no doubt that this is a most significant book; an opinion former and changer of some merit. It is a mystery why it is not yet more well known - but watch this space. Moore says of it: "My engaging firsthand account of many years spent as the ultimate Greenpeace insider, a co-founder and leader in the organization's top committee." It also has the advantage of being a highly readable page turner.

Patrick Moore born 1947 was raised in rugged Winter Harbour on Vancouver Island and grew up in a family with a long history of logging and fishing. An outstanding student he obtained his Ph.D. in ecology at the University of British Columbia. In 1971 he became radicalised and joined a small group of anti nuclear activists planning to disrupt hydrogen bomb testing in Alaska. These beatniks and hippies were soon to become famously known as Greenpeace. "It was the beginning of a very wild ride... A new philosophy that embraced peace and ecology...We sung protest songs, drank beer, smoked pot, and had a generally good time - even while being tossed about on the notoriously dangerous waters of the Pacific".

From 1971 to 1986, as one of the leaders of Greenpeace, Moore waged war. "We campaigned against the bomb-makers, whale killers, polluters and anyone else who threatened civilization or the environment. In the process we won the hearts and minds of people around the world. We were Greenpeace". He tells his story well: of the many famous events in which he was closely involved, the huge dangers of challenging whalers on the high seas and including of course the sickening bombing of the Rainbow Warrior by the enraged French Government in which a photographer was killed.

Then he says: "During the early 1980s two things happened that altered my perspective on the direction in which environmentalism, in general, and Greenpeace in particular, were heading. The first was my introduction to the concept of sustainable development at a global meeting of environmentalists. The second was the adoption of policies by my fellow Greenpeacers that I considered extremist and irrational." In 1986 he resigned. Was he pushed, or did he jump? We never really learn. "I went from being a radical activist to a kind of environmental diplomat."

Moore is never short of a sharp opinion, usually backed by good scientific argument. He deals with just about every Green subject in some detail:
Forestry: This is one of his big subjects. We should be growing more trees and using more wood, not less. Wood is the most wonderful, unique and renewable substance in the world.
Hydroelectric energy: There is nothing wrong with creating more lakes in this world.
Nuclear energy: Essential for our future energy supply if we wish to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
Geothermal heat pumps: Far more important than solar panels or wind mills and should be installed in most new homes.
Genetic science: Will improve crop yields and end world malnutrition.
Aquaculture: Another of his big subjects. Fish farming has to be the future if we are going to be able to save any wild fish stocks at all.
Climate Change: No cause for alarm (he is a sceptic) the climate is always changing. Cooling is what we should fear. Poverty is by far the worst environmental problem, not climate change.
Whales: "No whale or dolphin should be killed or captured anywhere, ever. This is one of my few religious beliefs."

The Canadian activist Patrick Moore (not to be confused with the British amateur astronomer and cult-watcher of the same name) was one of the founders of Greenpeace. Later, he defected from the organization and became a more moderate Green, even hobnobbing with corporate leaders and presidents of lumberjack labour unions. "Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout" goes even further, so far that it actually resembles a brownlash or Wise Use publication. Well, at least Moore is honest! And hard-hitting, I might ad.

Moore is a fish farmer, and an entire section of the book defends this particular activity, apparently a major target for Greenpeace in Canada and the United States. He also defends commercial forestry, a major activity in British Columbia (his Canadian home province) and another Greenpeace target. DDT and other pesticides, nuclear power and genetic engineering are also defended by the author, who further calls for population stabilization through rising living standards. The most controversial part of "Confessions" is Moore's rejection of global warming: it either doesn't exist, or if it does, it's harmless. On this point, other pro-technology Greens such as Stewart Brand or James Lovelock would strongly disagree. (Interestingly, Moore and Lovelock are personal friends.) Even moderate Greens would consider this work too far out!

One of the few "regular" Green positions taken by Moore is what he calls "my only religious dogma": one should never, ever kill whales and dolphins, since these animals are almost as intelligent as humans. (It's unclear why he doesn't want to stop killing of primates, elephants or even ravens. There a lot of ravens in Canada.)

Regardless of what one may think of Patrick Moore's confessions, they are a necessary read for anyone groping towards a sensible position combining high culture (and high tech) with Green sensibilities. Two other books of a similar character are Stewart Brand's "Whole Earth Discipline" and Marin Lewis' somewhat dated "Green Delusions".

One thing's for sure: deep ecologists, anarcho-primitivists, Anthroposophists and the Unabomber wont like this one...

You have been warned.

I enjoyed this book, the author clearly cares about conservation, and his personal journey with changing views on the basis of his experiences keeps a strong narrative arc in the book. It is definitely a subjective account, with plenty of statements contested by others, I have no problem with that, he clearly tries to explain his views and reasoning as clearly as possible. Worth a read for a different perspective on the green movement.