We generally think of environmentalists as a thoughtful lot, committed to achieving peaceful change. And virtually all of them—or us—are.
But a tiny environmental fringe group has been committing arson and other acts of violence in the name of environmental causes, causing monstrous damage and endangering lives. The worst of these groups calls itself the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), and the FBI has termed it a domestic terrorist organization.
ELF has most recently been in the news for torching four multimillion dollar “green” model houses in the Woodinville suburb of Seattle. The terrorists left a sign on a white sheet that read, in big red letters, “Built Green? Nope Black.” The homes were built with “green” recycled materials and even had water-pervious sidewalks. But environmentalists were worried that the homes could pollute nearby wetlands and a creek that was home to endangered Chinook salmon.
The Earth Liberation Front has left a trail of destruction in its wake. It torched the Center for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington in 2001 in the mistaken belief that scientists there were genetically engineering trees. It cost $7 million to rebuild the center.
Much more recently, on March 11, four members of ELF were indicted for the December 31, 1999, arson of the Agriculture building at Michigan State University and a logging facility at Mesick, MI. In the MSU case, the defendants are accused of acting to protest genetic research on plants, and, indeed, the fire destroyed years of research documents and scientific experiments.
These radical environmentalists should have turned to the courts instead of resorting to their reign of terror. They have shown themselves to be no better than others who commit mayhem, destroy private property, and terrorize innocent people. Worse, with their attacks on research and research facilities they seem engaged in a war on ideas. They are no better than any other terrorists and they deserve prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.
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