Rex Weyler: "Crisis in the Ecology Movement"
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
Nate Hagens
4.8 • 555 Ratings
🗓️ 22 March 2022
⏱️ 90 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode, we meet with ecologist, writer, and Greenpeace cofounder, Rex Weyler.
Weyler explains how the ecology movement was hijacked by the environmental movement. How is climate change one of many issues that has a root cause of overshoot?
Weyler also explores the dangers of relying on hope as a strategy. Why must we be careful about virtual signaling in the environmental movement, and how can we "sharpen the sword" as individuals?
About Rex Weyler
Rex Weyler is a writer and ecologist. His books include Blood of the Land, a history of indigenous American nations, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize; Greenpeace: The Inside Story, a finalist for the BC Book Award and the Shaughnessy-Cohen Award for Political Writing; and The Jesus Sayings, a deconstruction of first century history, a finalist for the BC Book Award.
In the 1970s, Weyler was a cofounder of Greenpeace International and editor of the Greenpeace Chronicles. He served on campaigns to preserve rivers and forests, and to stop whaling, sealing, and toxic dumping.
He currently posts the "Deep Green" column at the Greenpeace International website. He lives on Cortes Island in British Columbia, with his wife, artist Lisa Gibbons.
For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/rex-weyler
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to The Great Simplification with Nate Higgins. |
| 0:06.0 | That's me. |
| 0:07.0 | On this show, we try to explore and simplify what's happening with energy, the economy, the environment, and our society. |
| 0:17.0 | Together with scientists, experts, and leaders, this show is about understanding the bird's-eye view of how everything fits together, where we go from here and what we can do about it as a society and as individuals. |
| 0:32.6 | Today's guest is author, ecologist, and activist Rex Weiler. |
| 0:38.9 | Rex was an original director of Greenpeace International in the 1970s, whose work was highlighted |
| 0:45.0 | in the film How to Change the World. |
| 0:48.1 | Over the years, Rex and I have become good friends, and we share a network of other systems |
| 0:52.5 | ecologists trying to better understand and influence |
| 0:56.1 | the human predicament. Today we delve into how the ecology movement got hijacked by the |
| 1:02.3 | environmental movement, how climate change is one of many issues that have a root cause of overshoot. |
| 1:08.9 | And we even had a speed round on Earth's prior mass extinctions. |
| 1:14.1 | Rex is a gentleman, a scholar, and a good friend. |
| 1:17.6 | And I hope you'll enjoy his wisdom and insights on today's show. |
| 1:20.9 | Thank you. You were one of the original founders of Greenpeace, have been a lifelong teacher, activists, and ecologist. |
| 1:41.3 | So what better way to start our conversation, if you're willing, then with a speed round of |
| 1:47.9 | some basic questions in the realm of your expertise. |
| 1:52.1 | Uh-oh, okay. |
| 1:52.9 | We'll see. |
| 1:53.8 | Okay. |
| 1:54.1 | So these are just like 30-second answers because a lot of people on this podcast are fluent |
| 2:00.5 | in these things such as ecology |
... |
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