The moral high ground of the environmental movement seems a little shakier after Pulitzer winner Tom Knudson’s five- part expose in the Sacramento Bee. Did you know that reading the fundraising pitch in a direct mail solicitation is normally recorded as "public education" by many of the largest US national and multi-national environmental organizations? Or how about the huge salaries, pay-outs and other benefits accorded to the top "environmentalists"? Knudson’s series seems to indicate that many of these groups are little more than the huge, multi- national corporations they set out to oppose, with theirs eyes trained equally on the politics of power and pursuit of the trophy buck. Knudson shows how many of them have lost sight of their environmental mission and are now mired in a frenzy of fundraising, entrepreneurial environmental litigation and campaigns based on misinformation and hyperbole. This is nothing new to sustainable users of wildlife and science- based resource managers, however, it may come as a bit of a shock to many true believers and the public.

Canadians considering a new endangered species act for Canada would be well advised to look at Knudson’s segment entitled "litigation central". It contains an interesting overview of the legal action circus unfolding in the US around the Endangered Species Act. Many of the circus ringleaders are vocal proponents of creating similar litigation growth opportunities based on the pending Species at Risk Act in Canada.  

A Hollywood movie glamorizing the life of Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd International is now underway.  According to the Calgary Herald, independent producer Pieter Kroonberg has bought the rights to Watson's life story and started work on a $60 million movie with Paramount Studios, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Anne Heche and Aidan Quinn, who will play the hero Watson, and featuring a number of robotic whales.

It seems unlikely that Hollywood will feature the lost cultures, livelihoods and hardship experienced by coastal and aboriginal peoples around the world during the decades of misinformation and hyperbole that are the trademark of Watson and his friends in the multi- national protection industry. Perhaps the opinions of a former shipmate provide some insights into the real-life story: