Spinning the atom - Patrick Moore for hire
It makes a very convenient headline for lazy journalists - "Former Greenpeace founder supports nuclear". It's also the lead the nuclear industry pays a lot of money to Patrick Moore for (actually an early Greenpeace member, but that's a bit weak for newspapers and less valuable to dirty industry paying the fees). The US magazine Mother Jones has published a good read on how Moore has long been a well paid mouth piece for any dirty industry willing to pay his fees.
Here's a few choice quotes:
Now, between sips of pinot grigio, he's offering up dubious factoids: Nuclear waste is safe enough to store in a backyard swimming pool, the areas around the plants are "as clean as nature preserves," and Three Mile Island was a success story because no radiation was emitted. He dismisses anti-nuke arguments as "illogical imaginary fears."
From April 2006 through March 2007, according to the Center for Media and Democracy, just 12 percent of the 302 news stories that mentioned Moore in relation to nuclear power noted his Nuclear Energy Institute connection. Peterson says it's not the industry's fault that reporters are lazy, but the NEI's website identifies Moore and Whitman simply as "environmentalists," and they introduce themselves in public as Greenpeace cofounder and former epa chief.
Despite being paid to attend political meetings, hearings, give interviews and schmooze with politicians apparently
Moore claims they needn't register as lobbyists because they don't lobby; they educate.
Now I didn't know you could really get a teaching qualification in nuclear promotion?
Post a comment