When Patrick Moore co-founded Greenpeace International in 1971, he was firmly against the use of nuclear energy to power Americans’ lives. Fifteen years later, Moore split from the environmental organization when he began studying nuclear energy more in-depth.
The activist spoke Monday night at the McCormick Tribune Center about America’s need to increase its use of nuclear power.
“I lost my fear of nuclear energy when I started studying it more closely,” Moore said. “It is one of the safest technologies we ever invented – it’s an excellent job-creation technology.”
Moore took time during his speech to reflect on his experience with Greenpeace, an organization that is now known for its outspoken advocacy for environmental issues. He said Greenpeace was “quite a ride – we got a lot of things right in the early years.”
“In retrospect … we painted ‘nuclear’ with too broad a brush,” Moore said. “We lumped nuclear energy with nuclear war as if ‘nuclear’ was evil. We were young and enthusiastic and we made the mistake of ignoring the benefits of nuclear energy.”
Moore dispelled myths about nuclear energy and discussed the safety and practicality of nuclear technology.
He cited a study which found that 52,000 nuclear plant workers had fewer occurrences of cancer and disease and enjoyed a longer lifespan than that of the general population. The nuclear industry is “safer to work in than real estate and financial services,” he said.
Moore is now the co-chairman of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition and chairman of Greenspirit Strategies.
“I want to promote nuclear energy and this is a vehicle to do it,” Moore said. “The purpose of Greenspirit to build a strong grassroots coalition which includes industry labor politicians of all stripes and community leaders to support new nuclear plants.”
He said Greenspirit is “based more on science and logic” than Greenpeace, which he said “depends on scare tactics where there’s no evidence.”
The lecture was followed by a question-and-answer session moderated by Medill graduate students in science journalism. The students questioned the misuse of nuclear plants and whether countries such as Iran should be allowed to use nuclear power.
“Every country has right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes,” Moore said. “What we have to focus on is making sure people don’t misuse nuclear energy. There are many technologies that can be used for good and evil.”
Not all attendees agreed with Moore’s arguments for nuclear energy.
David Kraft, executive director of Nuclear Energy Information Service, said Moore’s presentation had “broad, sweeping claims.”
“I saw him debate another colleague in December,” the Evanston resident said. “Hearing him essentially do the same script shows me this is another PR stint. We think this is a very disingenuous debate.”
Francisco Aguilar also attended the lecture and left questioning Moore’s position on important issues.
“I heard him on NPR, and I felt like I totally disagree with him,” said the Chicago resident. “I think his logic is twisted. What kind of qualifications does he have to make his claims?”
