I support Greenpeace even though I disagree with their ideologically-driven opposition to nuclear power; and I do not agree with the reason they oppose GMO’s (i.e. safety); because the main reason people should be anti-GMOs is the same reason people opposed Nestle for marketing powdered milk for babies in Africa. However, I also vote Conservative even though I do not agree with everything they stand for either. Life is like that. If you only became friends with people with whom you agreed about everything, I suspect you would not have (m)any friends.

There are only two reasons why people could consider pursuing all manner of unconventional hydrocarbons as anything other than insane: (1) they don’t believe burning them is the primary cause of the climate disruption we are now witnessing; or (2) they are gambling the future habitability of this planet on us rapidly making carbon capture and storage (CCS) safe and widely implemented. Irrespective of where you stand on this, I would also suggest that you read Stephen Leahy’s item about Fracking, which I recently re-blogged here: This highlights the potential for fracking to lead to uncontrolled methane release to the atmosphere (not something that generally gets talked about), which could be very bad news (as if uncontrolled methane release from thawing permafrost were not already bad enough).

I think you really need to stop inverting reality and recognise that the the only reason fossil fuel companies can afford to chase evermore inefficient hydrocarbon sources (i.e. based on EROEI data) is that they (1) are massively subsidised in the form of tax breaks; and/or (2) they put up the price of what they sell. These are the vested interests you should be concerned about. Furthermore, I think we all need to ask why oil companies have not yet re-invented themselves as renewable energy companies. One day soon they will have to do so but, by not doing so already, they have guaranteed their own eventual demise. Sadly, their tunnel vision – and focus on maximising profit in the short-term – looks to have guaranteed a very bleak future for all life on Earth (unless, as I said, we crack CCS soon).

Before people sponsor ads like this, they want to look at the other activities of the organisation. Arctic drilling might be questionable, but is stopping fusion research in our best interests? I would not support a group with such motives.