Greenpeace getting more bitter
A reader writes in:
Greenpeace has always been against BIG whatever but recently it has started using very bitter and angry language.
The oil and gas industry is “a death cult”
Amanda Larsson @ecomanda Oct 17
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To all the good, strong, wonderful people I met in Dunedin over the weekend, thank you. You give me hope that NZ will not stand by while oil companies like OMV wilfully wreck our chance at a future.
Russel Norman @RusselNorman Oct 15
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Russel Norman Retweeted PM Breaking News
Hey @PEPANZ1 what were you saying about the cost of reducing our emissions from your industry? The cost of letting fossil fuel companies continue to profit from misery is this kind of thing:
There is an article by a political scientist about why climate change campaigners have changed tactics from a technocratic, fear of consequences campaign to a morality and hate based campaign. it’s because it’s more successful in recruiting and motivating supporters. https://theconversation.com/keep-it-in-the-ground-what-we-can-learn-from-anti-fossil-fuel-campaigns-100005
“Third, targeting fossil fuels helps to personalize the causes of climate change. One of the reasons climate change is not psychologically salient to most people is that it is typically perceived to be an unintentional side-effect of the everyday actions of billions of people. This makes it hard for us to attribute blame.
But the fossil fuel industry is disproportionately responsible for our dependence on emissions-intensive energy. Targeting the industry helps to concentrate moral pressure on these more culpable agents and stokes the indignation that fuels climate activism.”
I’d argue that creating the ‘Other’ as an evil and morally reprehensible group responsible for the wrongs of the world is a tactic used by extremist groups throughout history, from ISIS through to Russian anti-semites.
A good point by the reader that Greenpeace’s language has become more extreme and vitriolic.