Co-founder and leader of Greenpeace for 15 years, Dr. Moore is now Chair of Ecology, and Energy with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
It is obvious that civilization would not be possible without the mineral and energy resources mined and extracted from the Earth. Yet there is a growing movement to oppose nearly all such activities.
Even though 86% of the world’s energy supply, including 98% of the energy for transporting people and goods, comes from fossil fuels, there are proposals to end their use altogether. The G7 countries, including Canada, recently agreed that “zero emissions” is the desired long-term goal.
It is very difficult to obtain approval for a new mining development, even in the leading mining countries like Australia and Canada. It is virtually impossible in any European country where nearly all their metals are imported, mostly from developing countries.
This trend is based on the perceived negative environmental impacts caused by disturbing the land and water and by emitting CO2 into the atmosphere. The environmental activist community is quite unanimous that ending the use of fossil fuels is paramount.
And if you ask a Greenpeace executive or an environmentally-driven political leader to give an example of a mining operation that meets their standards for environmental performance you will always draw a blank. “Green fundamentalism” is a combination of extreme left politics and religious intolerance.
A few countries’ governments are beginning to recognize that this kind of zero-tolerance policy towards some of their most important industries is simply not acceptable and amounts to a kind of death wish.
In India, the government of Narenda Modi has all but shut down Greenpeace India along with hundreds of other organizations working to undermine national programs. Greenpeace has led the effort to foster opposition to coal mines, coal-fired power plants, nuclear plants, and advances in agriculture.
For the rest of this column, click here: http://www.torontosun.com/2015/09/21/anti-energy-campaigns-harming-countries