is not affiliated to political causes. We consider it
unfortunate that politics intrudes more and more into environmental issues. All
too often positions are dictated by political ideologies rather than by genuine
scientific assessments.
So we thought we would turn the tables and look at the political philosophy,
history and recent actions of some of the chief proponents of the IWC’s
"no whaling" caucus. We pass no comment on the non-environmental
issues listed below. But what follows makes interesting reading, particularly
for representatives from the U.S. who oppose the RMS.
Elliot Morley, Britain’s
Fisheries Minister, is a member of the Socialist Environment Resources
Association (SERA), home to many British Labor Party left-wingers. SERA
advocates old style "command and control" principles, believing that
"market forces must be controlled and regulated in order to constrain
economic activity within limits of what the biosphere can sustain… As we have
argued against the exploitation of labor, so we must work to end the
untrammeled exploitation of the natural world."
In the 1980s, Morley was a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
(CND), an anti-American pacifist group. CND campaigned in the UK against the
Cold War policies of President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher and demanded the closing of U.S. military bases in England.
In 1988, Morley signed a House of Commons Resolution congratulating the
communist regime in Nicaragua on expelling the US Ambassador. The following
year, in a separate Resolution, Morley praised the regime for its
"significant efforts and gains" despite the "unjust, illegal and
immoral war and economic embargo" imposed by the US administration.
As a Member of Parliament, his researcher was provided by the political
animal lobby. In 1994, Morley visited Canada at the invitation of the
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
One of his first actions as a government minister in 1997, was to set up a
"Consultative Forum" with environmental campaigning groups in the UK
to develop ways to end all commercial whaling. Last year, he banned whale
sighting surveys from UK waters because the scientific data would show that
whale hunting by Norway was taking place in a sustainable manner.
In 1998, he claimed the UK’s pro-hunting lobby was funded by
"American gun money." When British fox hunters argued that their
pastime reduced the number of foxes attacking farms, Morley argued that hunting
had little impact on population levels.
At the IWC Morley takes the opposite tack, arguing that research whaling of
small numbers of abundant minke whales "severely undermines"
conservation and "is to be deplored."
Sandra Lee, New Zealand’s
Conservation Minister, is also from the far left of politics. In 1999, she
stopped sustainable native forest logging on the west coast of the country’s
South Island in an action that severely damaged the furniture industry.
This year Lee has been involved in stopping all new applications for water
space for marine farms through a moratorium. She is also trying to turn part of
New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone into a marine reserve where humans are
prevented from carrying out any activity except tourism.
