Recently anti-whaling activists Sea Shepherd made the news with their aggressive attacks on Japanese research vessels, pelting the ships with bottles filled with acidic rancid butter.
This dramatic protest was decried as terrorism by Japan, and generally frowned upon by other environmentalists as being too radical to be effective.
With Sea Shepherd in the news, some old confusion linking the organization to Greenpeace has surfaced again. To avoid any negative attention, Greenpeace issued a statement explaining their shared history, and outlining the difference between the two organizations.
Paul Watson, the founder of Sea Shepherd, was a part of the Greenpeace leadership — although not a founder as he sometimes claims — until they kicked him out in 1977.
Basically it sounds like Watson wanted to pursue more aggressive (i.e. violent) tactics than the rest of the group. The disagreement was disruptive to the group, and the other leaders decided to move forward without him, staging their own dramatic but peaceful protests.
This is exactly the kind of schism that anti-environmental groups love, but it sounds like the story here is that it’s a non-story. This all happened thirty years ago!
The important part is that there are two groups, both of whom are against whaling. Whether you agree with the need for violent action or prefer to support the Greenpeace-ful method, killing whales is reprehensible and must stop. The end.
Don’t Confuse Captain Paul Watson or Sea Shepherd With Greenpeace originally appeared on Green Daily on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:01:00 EST 0. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Hank Green
