Interview: An Activist Who Is Riling Up His Green Allies

In his new book, The God Species: Saving the Planet in the Age of Humans, British journalist and environmental activist Mark Lynas argues that the world’s gravest ecological problems can be addressed with existing technological solutions. By embracing nuclear power and genetic engineering, Lynas has angered his onetime colleagues in the green movement. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, he talks about his change of heart on some key issues, his embrace of genetically modified crops as a key solution to food shortages, and his disgust at seeing some environmentalists largely ignore the devastation from the recent Japanese tsunami while over-hyping the dangers of radiation from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant. “They believe in what they’re doing, but these people are nuts,” he says. “And they’re doing real harm by spreading fear.”

Read the interview