Extinction Rebellion’s spokeswoman has quit the protest group to become a nuclear power campaigner.
Zion Lights, 36, has left the climate change cause, which brought London to a standstill last year, to join pro-nuke outfit Environmental Progress.
The former XR communications head said she had felt ‘duped’ after being surrounded by anti-nuclear campaigners until she read more into the radioactive fuel.
Mother-of-two Zion said: ‘The facts didn’t really change, but once I understood them I did change my mind.’
Zion, who was born in the West Midlands and given her unusual name as a baby, said: ‘I have a long history of campaigning on environmental issues, most recently as a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion UK.
‘Now, I have quit the organization to take up a position as a campaigner for nuclear power.’
The Environment Progress site suggests she joined their group on Sunday, with her profile dated that day.
Zion, who was grilled on the Andrew Neil Show last year, added to City Am: ‘Surrounded by anti-nuclear activists, I had allowed the fear of radiation, nuclear waste and weapons of mass destruction to creep into my subconscious. I realized I had been duped into anti-science sentiment all this time.’
It is an astonishing turnaround since her views in 2014 when she said there was no clear answer on the safety of nuclear power.
There was little reaction from Extinction Rebellion today after the news of her transfer was published.
Its website dodges the question of what it thinks about nuclear power saying it wanted to welcome ‘a variety of views’.
The group continues: ‘We believe a social movement is best built as a “broad church” and that respectful discussions should take place within the movement on a variety of topics.’
Zion has previously spoken about being worried about the environment since she was a child.
She was inspired after seeing an advert on television which said ‘it is not too late’.
Recounting the experience, she said: ‘I remember seeing it and having the horrible feeling of what if we are letting it be too late?”
Read more at Daily Mail
Many people, who have had biological kids, can’t accept the reality of our situation. Those, who promote nuclear power as our savior, tend to assume that we have 2-3 decades to turn things around using vast increase in existing nuclear power, or through emerging new nuclear technologies. They tend to be clueless regarding the following two statements.
UN chief: World has less than 2 years to avoid ‘runaway climate change’
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/406291-un-chief-the-world-has-less-than-2-years-to-avoid-runaway-climate
UN Chief warns countries that the ‘point of no return’ on climate change is fast approaching
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/environment/un-chief-warns-countries-that-the-point-of-no-return-on-climate-change-is-fast-approaching/ar-BBXCJHl
Many anti-nuclear activists have poor and distorted understanding of nuclear power technologies. Many think they need to exaggerate in order to get their agenda across to the general public. They shoot themselves in the foot with such approaches. It then becomes easy for pro-nuclear forces to demonstrate, to many naive people, that they have been duped. This may be one reason that Zion Lights has switched to an oppositional side. If she had a good knowledge, of all aspects of the nuclear power controversy, at an early stage, then this transfer would have been unlikely.
She has seen the truely ugly side of enviromentalism and what its realy about where humans are consitered less important then a Amber Snail or a Prebbles Meadow Jumping Mouse a Northern Spotted Owl or a Leopard Lizard
‘The facts didn’t really change, but once I understood them I did change my mind.’
I’m so proud of this intellectually honest person.
Good for her.
The problem is that so many refuse to accept facts if those facts go against what the believe. It’s always good to see people can change. Michael Shellenberger, who helped convince her to see the light, also was a convert from eco-craziness, and founded the group she became a member of.
Now if only more of the so-called environmentalists who are pushing the so-called renewable “Green Energy”, which are both environmentally destructive and economically unfeasible, and backed nuclear power. This should be true both for those who fear “climate change” as well as those of us who see that as a giant hoax–we all should back nuclear power as our baseload electric generation. It is cleaner than all the others regarding pollution (I’m talking about real(tm) air pollution not CO2), especially when compared to coal, the other main source of baseload generators (natural gas is best for providing peak generating capacity since it can be fired up and shut down quickly).
Zion Lights has seen the Light at the end of the tunnel and decides she wants nothing more to do with the Just Stinks Rebellion and wants to promote Nuclear Power Go Away Greenpeace