Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout: The Making of a Sensible Environmentalist

Yesterday at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, I met two of the last seven surviving Northern White Rhinos in the whole entire world. They looked pretty lonely and were a sobering reminder to me of how delicate our natural environment can be. I left with a lump in my throat and softened heart. 

I can only imagine the passion for our planet that must have pulsed through Patrick Moore and his co-founders when they started Greenpeace 40 years ago. Had I been alive then, and of an age to be swept up in the movement, I probably would have signed up with bells...er...bellbottoms on. 

Patrick Moore vs. whalers

Many of their campaigns championed important ideas, and provided education to a world in need of some wake-up calls. But something's happened to the organization - their agenda now seems anti-science, anti-business, and sometimes, anti-human. 

Dr. Moore left 15 years after co-founding Greenpeace to establish a more sensible, science-based approach to environmentalism. His new book Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout: The Making of A Sensible Environmentalist gives his first-hand account as an insider and witness to how the group devolved into extremism. 


He envisions a more sustainable world by using practical and straightforward solutions to some of the most controversial subjects in the news today - energy independence, climate change, genetic engineering, and aquaculture. He even supports nuclear power in the wake of the Japanese nuclear crisis.


In the midst of his busy book tour (if I couldn't host him now, his next availability was June!), he's making the time to join us for lunch and to discuss some of his ideas. I hope you'll join us!

"Patrick’s great talent is his ability to clearly set out the environmental challenges we face and identify innovative solutions that fully take into account both people and the environment… In these challenging times, I think that’s exactly the kind of environmental leadership people are looking for." 

- Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City

"Former colleagues in the environmental movement scorned and shunned Dr. Moore, after he left Greenpeace… He is a tough minded scientist and an advocate for sound scientific research, policy, and practical, sustainable development." 

- Dr. Terry Simmons, Greenpeace co-founder

Friday, April 8, 2011

The Vancouver Club

UBC/SFU Room, 3rd Floor

11:45 am - Casual sandwich buffet

12:15 pm - Serious intellectual stimulation

1:30 pm - Back to work!

$45.00

Register here* 
*You will be directed to the Bon Mot Book Club site, please note this is not a Bon Mot Book Club event

Lunch with Ezra Levant discussing "Ethical Oil"

In my family, the biggest compliment that you can give someone is to say that they "have a nice mind". My friend Ezra's got that an then some! His new book Ethical Oil: The Case for Canada's Oil Sands is about to hit the shelves on September 14th. For those of you who thought his book Shakedown was a hot seller, this is going to blow that out of the water.


I've asked him to join me for lunch to talk about his new book, and as I'm guessing that a few other people might be interested as well, I've booked a large room at the Vancouver Club if you'd like to join us. You can order the book in advance, but there will also be some available on-site with an opportunity for a personal autograph.


The event details are below - I hope to see you there!


Ethical Oil: The Case for Canada's Oil Sands
Friday, September 24, 2010
The Vancouver Club
$40.00 (Advance registration only *this link will also take you to the Bon Mot Book Club site - please note this is a separate event from that series : )
11:45 am  Registration & casual lunch buffet
12:15 pm  Speaker program
1:30 pm   Adjournment



In 2009, Ezra Levant's bestselling book Shakedown revealed the corruption of Canada's human rights commissions and was declared the "most important public affairs book of the year."


In Ethical Oil, Levant turns his attention to another hot-button topic: the ethical cost of our addiction to oil. While many North Americans may be aware of the financial and environmental price we pay for a gallon of gas or a barrel of oil, Levant argues that it is time we consider ethical factors as well. With his trademark candor, Levant asks hard-hitting questions: With the oil sands at our disposal, is it ethically responsible to import our oil from the Sudan, Russia, and Mexico? How should we weigh carbon emissions with human rights violations in Saudi Arabia? And assuming that we can't live without oil, can the development of energy be made more environmentally sustainable?


In Ethical Oil, Levant exposes the hypocrisy of the West's dealings with the reprehensible regimes from which we purchase the oil that sustains our lifestyles, and offers solutions to this dilemma. Guests at all points on the political spectrum will want to participate in this timely and provocative discussion, which is sure to spark debate.

I'm a Catalyst now...

I responded on a whim to an invitation from the Globe & Mail to be a member of their Globe "Catalysts" program. I was accepted to be one of 1000 out of 8000 applicants, to provide my personal insights and comments on current affairs and issues of interest to Canadians, via forums with other members and their journalists.

I was happy to be accepted, and even somewhat surprised, given that part of my application included a personal rant about their climate change front cover page from a couple of weeks ago. The headline was something along the lines of "any doubts around climate change have now been debunked". Their evidence was a dozen or so "graphs" containing various squiggly lines, most of them sweeping up to the right. The captions on the graphs had titles around temperature and other measures.

My rant, however, was that none of the graphs had any x or y axis! So there were no measurements of what I presume would be tempurature and timelines, for example. Any one of the graphs could have been the temperatures from yesterday, for example, or showing a range of .00001 to .00002 degrees. There was no way to tell, and this was covering their entire front page! Even less intellectually stimulating than an Al Gore documentary.Crazy!

The good thing I guess is that they accepted me into their forum anyway. I guess every group needs an agitator : )