I gave at the office - So I was coming out of Dupont Metro to meet Jamie for lunch, when I was accosted by an eager twinkish thing in a bright yellow Greenpeace polo shirt with a clipboard. (I guess t-shirts would be too low class for proselytizing in the CBD.) He started his spiel, but I cut to the chase and told him that while I supported many of GP's goals, I found their tactics and ideology to be too radical for my tastes. (Not to mention, counterproductive.) The solicitor looked a bit dumbfounded and could only mumble an astonished "Really? Well, thanks anyway, and please vote for environment-friendly candidates." I assured him that I would.

Now Dupont is of course a center of typical urban-gay leftist thought on everything from hate speech to gun control, so my earnest young friend (with his rainbow pride necklace) probably hadn't encountered too many contrarian views. If I had had time, I might have engaged him in a debate on the merits. I've always had a lot more respect for organizations that choose cooperation over confrontation, such as The Nature Conservancy or even the Sierra Club. GP gets a little too close to those Earth First types. Basically, they're the nature lovers' answer to PETA. And, as I investigate them on the web, I discover that even their founder has eschewed their approach for consensus building.

Ben, perhaps you can give us the Left Coast perspective on Greenpeace and other environmental protection groups...