I have to say, I think those in this field are generally somewhat complacent about security. The animal rights movement shows what can happen. We shouldn't wait until after an attack to beef up security. Some of the larger conferences or specially convened meetings (eg Asilomar) may be a particularly appealing target for violent extremists.
In this specific case, my suggestion is that for all the bombast, George's enemies are unlikely to ram his boat if it's firing warning shots at him. I've no particular love for Russ George methods, but killing his crew isn't the way to solve anything. As a first step, it would seem reasonable to have SSOs (ship security officers) or weapons on board research vessels where it's legal. A heavy machine gun costs only a few thousand dollars. It's a sad state of affairs when scientists have to be armed, but better armed than dead. The threat level seems to suggest this isn't an over reaction. On Apr 27, 2013 6:16 AM, "David Lewis" <jrandomwin...@gmail.com> wrote: > Paul Watson wrote a "commentary" on Russ George entitled "*The Return of > a Dangerous Ecological > Criminal*<http://www.seashepherd.org/commentary-and-editorials/2012/10/29/the-return-of-a-dangerous-ecological-criminal-574>" > published by his Sea Shepherd Society online October 29 2012. This Watson > "commentary" seems to be all the Toronto Globe and Mail had as a source for > Paul Watson's views on Russ George and *geoengineering* as described in > their Nov 7 2012 article (I cited previously). Watson, in his article, > states his Sea Shepherd Society "did not make any judgement on the > scientific merits, if any, of this scheme [Russ George's 2007 plan to use > PLANKTOS to dump iron into waters west of the Galapagos Islands]". Watson, > apparently, was anxious that "Ecuadorian, American and International law" > *be upheld*. * (This is what his article states*). The Globe and Mail > reporter couldn't talk to Watson directly because "Mr Watson hasn't been > seen in public since July when *he skipped bail in Germany*..." > > As for ETC, their *Geopiracy: The Case against > Geoengineering<http://www.etcgroup.org/content/geopiracy-case-against-geoengineering> > *webpage is still up. ETC concludes, obviously, that "A moratorium on > real-world geoengineering experimentation is urgent", apparently because we > don't know what will happen if the *slightest thing* is done that ETC > classifies as geoengineering. From their first paragraph, ETC takes > geoengineering to be a* technological* strategy "that could reduce or > delay climate change, at least until social forces make a practical > agreement [to "mitigate climate chaos" by reducing GHG emissions]" > > Naturally,* no one wants that*. *Reasonable people, obviously, would > want to increase or accelerate climate change, before social forces > develop and make a practical agreement that might mitigate it.... ? > * > From Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll: *"**I don't think they play > at all fairly,' Alice began, in rather a complaining tone, 'and they all > quarrel so dreadfully one can't hear oneself speak — and they don't seem to > have any rules in particular; at least, if there are, nobody attends to them > *". > > > On Friday, April 26, 2013 7:19:50 PM UTC-7, Ken Caldeira wrote: >> >> Does it matter to ETC or Paul Watson whether the intent is to increase >> fishery yields versus reduce the magnitude of climate change? >> >> Would the action be 'geoengineering' in the latter case but not the >> former? >> >> >> On Friday, April 26, 2013, David Lewis wrote: >> >>> Paul Watson is known for going as far as attempting to sink ships in >>> international waters that he feels are in violation of his conservation >>> principles. >>> >>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to geoengineering@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
