Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Environmentalists?

As a new reader of your magazine,I'd like to denounce the attitude of some hard-core, self-appointed environmentalists who, with their permanent finger-wagging, patronising views and absurd actions, not only make fools of themselves at times but, which is much worse, do a greaty deal of damage to the otherwise beneficial and necessary green movement.

I'll mention but two revealing examples to illustrate my view. In the first place, most readers will recall the release of dozens of minks from farms, carried out by some so-called ecologists to protest against the fur industry, as the magazine itself featured recently. It's common knowledge-apparently not to the protesters though-that minks are voracious predators, so their wandering free in the woods will result in environmental imbalance: the cure is worse than the disease.

Another, more fundamental issue is raised in my second argument: I'm fed up with some green groups saying no to everything, including wind power stations, every time the authorities intend to set up one on a mountain crest; even if that may be the most suitable site, they will only regard the well-being of certain birds or claim that it is an eyesore. Even admitting all that, we must think realistically, not dogmatically: we need energy because we can't go back to the caves, so we should promote clean, renewable power sources instead of dangerous or polluting energies. As a result, we can't oppose everything systematically: we can't help but choose the lesser evil.

I'm aware that my views may seem anti-green at first sight; nothing could be further from my mind. Though not a radical myself, I try to apply some basic measures to my everyday life: use public transport whenever possible, reuse and recycle, save energy and consume less... I'm convinced that is the way to help our ailing planet. We also need sharp, clear minds who can argue successfully in favour of sustainable growth, because there is too much at stake-and it might be too late.However irresponsible, bombastic demonstrations only have an adverse effect on the movement to save a planet in distress.

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