Read the unpalatable truth about the anti-nuclear lobby for the truth about nuclear power.
And then comes the rant . . . I think this one’s been building for a while.
One of the things that irritates me to the extreme is the misreporting/slanting of the facts done by activists and politicians. Not just on nuclear, but on the budget, budget reform, government reform, the environment and global warming. Maybe misreporting is the wrong term. Maybe I should use misleading or misrepresenting or misinterpreting instead. Regardless of the term used to describe the verbalization, it’s just plain wrong and the action seriously undermines the credibility of the person or organization perpetrating the lie. I hate being taken for a fool and that’s what the media, politicians and activists often do; feed us false information and encourage us to make false choices by using emotion and seemingly likely potential disaster scenarios instead of stating the facts.
Here’s an article on various environmental movements’ failure to ground their activism in scientific fact. After you’ve read this fairly short article, get the site’s RSS feed. If you don’t stay up on this stuff you’re going to continue to believe the main stream media’s take on all things scientific.
If you’re concerned about the environment, if you’re concerned about global warming, you should take the time to truly study the issues for yourself. Don’t believe what others are saying. Don’t advocate for an idea just because it gives you warm fuzzies or because someone you like or respect says it’s so. Question everything. In today’s information age, there is no excuse for not researching to find the truth.
It’s important to stay educated. Education is a life-long task. For the environmental/green movement, I’d suggest you start with Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout: The Making of a Sensible Environmentalist. Dr. Patrick Moore writes an engaging firsthand account of his many years spent as the ultimate Greenpeace insider, a co-founder and leader in the organization’s top committee. Moore explains why, 15 years after co-founding it, he left Greenpeace to establish a more sensible, science-based approach to environmentalism. From energy independence to climate change, genetic engineering to aquaculture, Moore sheds new light on some of the most controversial subjects in the news today.
Where do you fall on the gullibility scale? I think I’m pretty far down because I have a solid “connect the dots” mentality and a strong attachment to dealing in sound logic. All the puzzle pieces must fit smoothly or the puzzle is flawed. I cannot believe in a disconnect and I don’t believe in someone who has colored, bent or misrepresented the facts unless I already know the facts to be true. If it’s important, verify. If you’re going to repeat it to anyone, verify. Always. Don’t add to the problem by spreading false information.
Monbiot, in his article on nuclear power, says it better than I ever could. “We have a duty to base our judgments on the best available information. This is not only because we owe it to other people to represent the issues fairly, but also because we owe it to ourselves not to squander our lives on fairytales.”
