Dr. Patrick Moore to Receive Award for Nuclear Science
Greenpeace Co-founder and CASEnergy Coalition Co-chair to be honored with 2009 Einstein Society Award for achievement in nuclear energy science
Vancouver (March 6, 2009) – Greenpeace co-founder and CASEnergy Coalition Co-chair Dr. Patrick Moore will receive the National Award for Nuclear Science from the Einstein Society in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at a gala dinner on March 7.
The award is granted to an individual each year to “honor and celebrate the wide scope of achievement and commitment to furthering scientific endeavor made by individuals in areas of military leadership, medical technology, public policy and government, energy sciences, education and space exploration.” Dr. Moore is being recognized for his work in education and advocacy. He is co-chair of the Clean and Safe Energy (CASEnergy) Coalition, a grassroots coalition that unites unlikely allies across the business, environmental, academic, consumer and labor community to support nuclear energy.
Dr. Moore was a director and leader of Greenpeace from its founding in Vancouver, Canada in 1971 to oppose US hydrogen bomb testing in Alaska. Since leaving Greepeace in 1986, his position on nuclear energy has changed, and today he recognizes it is a clean and safe energy technology that can play an important role in reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.
“We got a lot of things right in the early years of the environmental movement; stop the bomb, save the whales, end toxic waste dumping,” stated Dr. Moore. “But we made one serious mistake when we included nuclear energy in with nuclear weapons as if all things nuclear were evil. This was as misguided as if we had included nuclear medicine with nuclear weapons. Both nuclear energy and nuclear medicine are beneficial uses of nuclear technology, using otherwise dangerous radioactive elements to improve our quality of life.”
“This was at the height of the Cold War and the height of the Vietnam War when we feared annihilation by all-out nuclear war. I believe that our understandable emotional reaction to the threat of nuclear weapons colored our attitude to all things nuclear,” continued Dr. Moore. “This is regrettable because there would be a lot fewer coal-fired power plants and a lot more clean nuclear plants today if we had seen things more objectively at the time.”
“It is gratifying that while some environmental groups remain staunchly opposed to nuclear energy, others are recognizing that it has a role to play,” said Dr. Moore. “Just last week a group of four prominent environmentalists in the UK, including Stephen Tindale who led Greenpeace UK until 2006, came out publicly in favor of nuclear power. This is just the beginning of a realization among environmentalists that the way forward is a combination of renewable energy and nuclear energy.”
In addition to his role with CASEnergy Coalition, Dr. Moore is Chair and Chief Scientist of Greenspirit Strategies Ltd. in Vancouver, Canada. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of British Columbia and in 2005 received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from North Carolina State University
The award ceremony and dinner will take place at 6 PM, March 7 at the Albuquerque Sheraton Uptown. For details see: http://nuclearsciencemuseum.blogspot.com
About The CASEnergy Coalition:
The CASEnergy Coalition is a large grassroots coalition that unites unlikely allies across the business, environmental, academic, consumer and labor community to support nuclear energy. We believe that nuclear energy can improve energy security, ensure clean air quality, and enhance the quality of life and economic well-being of all Americans. The Coalition is led by Christine Todd Whitman, former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and former New Jersey Governor, and Patrick Moore, a co-founder and former leader of Greenpeace.
For more information about the CASEnergy Coalition, please visit http://www.cleansafeenergy.org.
