I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
The Center for Media and Democracy is criticizing the Lansing State Journal for publishing an interview in which Greenpeace director-turned-nuclear-energy-advocate Patrick Moore was given a platform to present positive statements about nuclear power. The media watchdog said that LSJ should have mentioned that Moore is paid to do public relations for the nuclear industry’s Nuclear Energy Institute.
In its Take 5 column, subtitled ‘five questions. five answers”, five questions were softballed to Moore. “How do you go from being a founder of Greenpeace, which is adamantly opposed to nuclear energy, to a proponent of nuclear energy?,” was one. Moore said that “we got a lot of things right in the early years: stop the bombs, save the whales, stop toxic waste, but we made a mistake (on) nuclear power.” Moore could have mentioned that he is now a consultant to the NEI, which was created by the PR firm Hill & Knowlton, but didn’t.
According to the Center for Media and Democracy, LSJ is just one of many news outlets and journalists that have failed to inform readers about Moore’s industry ties.
The media group says:
Patrick Moore was a leading figure with Greenpeace Canada and subsequently with Greenpeace International between 1981 and 1986. In 1991 he established a consultancy business, Greenspirit Enterprises, “focusing on environmental policy and communications in natural resources, biodiversity, energy and climate change.
Moore began working for the Nuclear Energy Institute front group, the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, in 2006.
He has worked for the mining industry, the logging industry, PVC manufacturers, the nuclear industry and in defence of biotechnology. In October 2008, Greenpeace issued a statement distancing itself from Moore, saying he “exploits long gone ties with Greenpeace to sell himself as a speaker and pro-corporate spokesperson, usually taking positions that Greenpeace opposes.”
Moore has toured Michigan, speaking in support of the planned construction of a new nuclear reactor at DTE Energy’s Fermi complex in Monroe County.
He debated renewable energy advocate Harvey Wasserman at the Conference on Michigan’s Future which was held at Crystal Mountain Resort earlier this month. Audio of that discussion is available here.
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