[IMC-Editorial] Op-Ed: The Mounting Threat of Eco-Terrorism

[The Ayn Rand Institute]

Dear Editor, 

Please consider this Op-Ed submission from the Ayn Rand Institute.

The Mounting Threat of Eco-Terrorism

By Elan Journo

As we combat Islamic terrorism abroad, we must recognize the deadly
threat posed by a homegrown source--one that since 1997 has been
responsible for over 600 attacks and has inflicted more than $100
million in property damage. The attacks have become bolder, fiercer:
in August a 206-unit apartment complex near San Diego was firebombed,
resulting in $50 million in damage. And just days ago, also in San
Diego, four upscale homes under construction were torched.

This growing danger is: environmental terrorism. It is time that we
reflect on the scale of the danger we face--and the ideology behind
that menace.

>From Alabama to Michigan, from Pennsylvania to California, underground
cells of eco-terrorists have been waging a campaign of tree-spiking,
industrial sabotage, arson and bombing. Last year the most prominent
eco-terrorist group, the Earth Liberation Front, proudly claimed
responsibility for more than 130 attacks. What is their goal?
According to the ELF, our Westernized way of life "comes at the
expense of . . . the natural environment." By seeking a safer, longer,
happier life--by seeking more than a bare, primitive
subsistence--mankind, they say, is guilty of crimes against nature.
Accordingly, they wish "to inflict economic damage on those profiting
from the destruction and exploitation of the natural
environment"--hoping eventually "to speed up the collapse of
industry."

Eco-terrorists have consistently targeted these "exploiters"--from
timber companies, to land developers, to science researchers. In the
most notorious of their actions, in Vail, Colorado, in 1998, the ELF
burned down part of a ski resort, causing $12 million in property
damage. The attack was mounted, the group said, on behalf of the
wildlife whose habitat was being "trespassed" upon. Last year nine new
homes in Phoenix were firebombed because they were deemed, by
eco-terrorists, to be encroaching on . . . the natural desert. Two
years ago, to protest the existence of Huntingdon Life Sciences, a
British animal-research lab, "animal-liberationist" goons blew up
several cars belonging to the firm's employees, and severely beat the
company's managing director with baseball bats.

These militants are alarmingly brazen. Gloating in a tone redolent of
Osama bin Laden's post-Sept. 11 videos, the ELF has published a
meticulous, 47-page report of its self-described illegal activities.
The attacks are listed by region, date, tactics used and damage
caused. There are even mock awards for the "most impressive" attacks
and "most vehicles damaged in a single action." To spur further
violence, the group's Web site offers a free illustrated manual on
"Setting Fires With Electrical Timers" (along with advice on what to
do if an FBI agent comes knocking).

Yet, astonishingly, little has been done to stop the eco-terrorists.
Some have been caught and even brought before grand juries, but few
have been punished. In February 2002 the House Resources Subcommittee
held a hearing on eco-terrorism, but nothing came of it: the main
witness, an ELF spokesman, refused to answer most of the questions.
Meanwhile, the attacks, both large and small, continued last year at an
average pace of one every four days.

These people are not mere vandals. They declare that they do not
"consider the destruction of property . . . to be committing violence"
if done for the sake of nature. It is just a matter of time before
they extend their rabid rationalizations to the killing of human
beings. The eco-terrorists hate the system of capitalism and
industrialization because it leads us, properly, to regard nature as
only a means to satisfy man's wishes. They are driven by an ideology
that regards human life as dispensable whenever it impedes their goal
of keeping nature untouched. With every dam he constructs, every house
he erects and every shovelful of soil he removes, man is denounced for
"raping the earth" and "murdering the eco-system." The eco-terrorists
want to stop all such activities--by whatever means necessary.

Our inaction in the face of Islamic terrorists prior to Sept. 11
helped to embolden them; our inaction in the face of eco-terrorism is
doing the same. We dare not wait for eco-terrorists, motivated by
their own nihilistic ideology, to mount their own Sept. 11. They must
be stopped by the force of government, now.
______________________________________________________________________________

Elan Journo is a senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine,
Calif. The Institute (www.aynrand.org)
promotes the philosophy of Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged and The
Fountainhead.

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