When I heard that Colorado Representative Scott McInnis, who heads the
House Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, was turning his
attention to “ecoterrorists” in the wake of 9/11, I breathed a sigh of
relief. It was about time, I thought. Terrorists have been targeting
environmentalists for years, and the Feds have largely turned a blind
eye. Finally, I thought, after the tragic loss of life at the World
Trade Center, the government would assign a higher priority to tracking
down the thugs who’ve been threatening environmental activists, land
managers, and wildlife biologists for the last thirty years.
OK, not really. It would be unbelievably optimistic to think that
McInnis was talking about anyone except so-called monkeywrenchers, the
Environmental Liberation Front (ELF) and Animal Liberation Front (ALF).
When people like Don Young try to link the horrendous loss of life in
New York to anti-globalization protesters and the like, no opportunity
to tar enviros with the Al Qaeda brush seems too farfetched.
So McInnis sends a letter to mainstream environmental groups - Sierra
Club, Greenpeace, Earthjustice, National Resources Defense Council,
World Wildlife Fund, National Wildlife Federation and the League of
Conservation Voters - asking them to disavow the actions of
“ecoterrorists.” Yes, the decidedly non-extremist League of
Conservation Voters made the list, perhaps because they keep giving
McInnis ratings lower than 25 out of a possible 100 for his abysmal
environmental voting record.
Some of these groups have indeed disavowed “ecoterrorists” - The Sierra
Club indignantly pointed out that it had done so before being asked to
- and some of these groups have made valid points about the squelching
of legitimate dissent in a time of national panic.
I’m no supporter of the ALF and their cohort. Still, the sum total of
people killed or injured by ALF and ELF is, not to put too fine a point
on it, zero. Hardly an effective band of terrorists if you ask me. Ted
Kaczynski - the Unabomber, a non-environmentalist often lumped in with
ELF and ALF by right-wingers - does in fact have a body count, but he’s
in custody, and will likely remain so for the rest of his life. In any
event, his name wasn’t on the letter McInnis sent to the green groups.
Contrast this with the record of terror visited upon environmental
activists, and federal environmental officials. Literally hundreds of
incidents of violence - or threats of violence - against
environmentalists fill police blotters nationwide.
Want examples?
There are hundreds more one could list. Many of these incidents remain
unsolved. Some involve highly plausible suspects who haven’t been
pursued by law enforcement. And there are no lack of people for law
enforcement to interview about these incidents. Wise Use activist Ron
Arnold, for instance, who in 1992 declared of environmentalists: “We’re
out to kill the fuckers. We’re simply trying to eliminate them. Our
goal is to eliminate environmentalism once and for all.” Or the
officials at Vulcan Chemical who showed their soon to be laid off
employees videos of Lauri Maddy, saying she was the person responsible
for their job loss. Or the Proctor and Gamble officials who likewise
blamed Stephanie McGuire. They might just have something useful to
share, but they’ve gone uninterviewed.
The threats and violence continue. And yet to my knowledge, not one
representative or senator professing a concern about “ecoterrorism” has
risen to denounce these terroristic acts committed against citizens of
the United States engaged in the peaceable exercise of their First
Amendment rights. Not one peep of disavowal from Scott McInnis, from
Don Young, from Richard Pombo or Ben Nighthorse Campbell or former
Representative Helen Chenoweth or by the co-signers of McInnis’ letter,
James Hansen, John Peterson, Bob Schaffer, Greg Walden, J.D. Hayworth,
and George Nethercutt Jr.
We share a sentiment that found admirable expression in McInnis’
letter: “As our Nation begins the recovery and healing process
following the tragedy of Sept. 11, we believe it is critical for
Americans of every background and political stripe to disavow terrorism
in all its forms and manifestations… Americans simply cannot
tolerate, either overtly or through silence, the use of violence and
terror as an instrument of promoting social and political change.”
How about it, Representative McInnis? Distinguished members of the
Forestry and Forest Health Subcommittee? Do you disavow these hundreds
of acts of terrorism directed at peaceful American environmentalists?
We assume you will not grant them tolerance by your silence.
We await your reply.
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