War And Green Peace

As an ag editor, I’ve often butted heads, in person and through the media, with agricultural opponents. Most times, these encounters have been brief, with neither myself or the activist changing their views on whatever topic is being debated. Still, I’ve sometimes wondered how these individuals came to be so adamantly opposed to many of the practices that make up modern agriculture.

However, thanks to the Mid America CropLife Association, I now have at least some insight into the sometimes shadowy world of agricultural opposition. At the association’s annual meeting in September, one of the speakers was Patrick Moore, a one-time member of Green Peace who spends much of his time now promoting the advancement of agriculture.

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And boy, was this speech eye-opening. According to Moore, Green Peace was originally founded on very humanitarian principles. That’s why many of the organization’s early years were spent opposing hydrogen bomb testing by the U.S., whaling by the Russians and baby seal hunting in Canada. Yet, Moore recently left Green Peace behind because of some fundamental changes in the organization’s approach to environmental activism.

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“Why did I leave Green Peace after 15 years?” he said. “We started with a strong orientation to save civilization from nuclear war and environmental carelessness. But over the years, Green Peace gradually drifted away from this humanitarian orientation to one where the organization describes humans as the enemies of the Earth.”

Among the recent causes Green Peace has advocated that Moore believes are wrong include calling for the global ban of chlorine use (which would eliminate approximately 75% of the modern medicines that are based on chlorine chemistry) and opposition to using wood in construction (despite the fact that wood is one of the only renewable building materials available).

But it’s Green Peace’s recent opposition to modern agriculture that really upsets Moore. Like several other special interest groups, Green Peace is opposed to the use of biotech crops to help feed the world. However, the organization also opposes the introduction of Golden Rice on these same grounds, despite its health benefit origins.

“Golden Rice was bred to fight vitamin A deficiency by containing beta carotene, which prevents blindness,” said Moore. “It is estimated that there are more than 250 million school age children in the world that are currently vitamin A deficient, with about 1% dying each year from this ailment.”

Despite this clear benefit to society, Green Peace has consistently fought Golden Rice’s approval through what Moore calls a misinformation campaign. “The only difference between Golden Rice and conventional rice is the addition of beta carotene,” he said. “Yet, Green Peace says there could be health problems if Golden Rice is approved. No, there will be two million less dead children every year if we allow Golden Rice’s approval.”

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