Re: Greenpeace et al. [& giving idiot children guns/energy]

[SAFarberMSPH@CS.COM]

The recollections of Ted Rockwell in his post about quotes equating giving 

abundant energy and guns to idiot children are pretty accurate. However, the 

quote directly attributed to Lovins was actually uttered by reknowned 

"ecologist" Paul Ehrlich as noted below.


see link:



Click here: http://www.nuc.umr.edu/~ans/luddite.html 


Contents:

"If you ask me, it'd be a little short of disastrous for us to discover a 

source of clean, cheap, abundant energy because of what we would do with it. 

We ought to be looking for energy sources that are adequate for our needs, 

but that won't give us the excesses of concentrated energy with which we 

could do mischief to the earth or to each other."- Amory Lovins - Playboy 

Interview, Nov/Dec 1977, p. 22 


"Giving society cheap, abundant energy ... would be the equivalent of giving 

an idiot child a machine gun."-Paul Ehrlich, ``An Ecologist's Perspective on 

Nuclear Power'', May/June 1978 issue of Federation of American Scientists 

Public Issue Report

Return to UMR-ANS homepage. 

You are looking at http://www.nuc.umr.edu/~ans/luddite.html 


=====


I think it important that those who wonder why anti-nuclear activist like 

Lovins, et. al.,  who seem to be so in error on their technical claims 

realize these individuals have an anti-technology and social agenda that has 

nothing to do with trivial to nonexistent radiation risk which they use only 

as a tactic to mislead the media, public, and politicians.


Stewart Farber

Public Health Sciences

Warren, VT 06774

[802] 496-3356

email: safarbermsph@cs.com




In a message dated 6/20/01 7:08:20 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 

jacobusj@ors.od.nih.gov writes:



> I would be careful about circulating statements based on what you think
>
> people said.  That leaves you open to charges of falsification and libel.
>
> You could also look like a fool if you are proven wrong.
>
>
> -- John 
>
>
> John Jacobus, MS
>
> Certified Health Physicist
>
> 3050 Traymore Lane
>
> Bowie, MD  20715-2024
>
>
> E-mail:  jenday1@email.msn.com (H)      
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: Ted Rockwell [mailto:tedrock@CPCUG.ORG]
>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 8:33 PM
>
> To: Jerry Cohen; Franta, Jaroslav; Radsafe (E-mail)
>
> Subject: RE:Greenpeace et al.
>
>
>
> > Is it possible that what Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, etc, are 
>
> really opposed to is the generation of abundant, cheap, electrical energy?
>
>
> Certainly!  I have a whole page of quotes I could dig up if necessary, from
>
> Amory Lovins: "Giving the American people cheap, abundant, clean energy
>
> would be like giving a machine-gun to an idiot child" (approx quote from
>
> memory).
>
>
> Elliott Richardson: To the effect that providing lots of good energy is
>
> fundamentally a bad idea because of the life-style it would allow us to
>
> follow.
>
>
> Etc.  Etc.
>
>
> Did you doubt it?
>
>
> Ted Rockwell