Enemies of the good: Is Greenpeace the new Nader?

On Monday in the Green Inc. blog, Jared Flesher interviewed Ralph Nader, which was unnecessary. It was unnecessary because Ralph Nader always says the same things: Whatever progress is being made isn’t progress enough. Whoever’s making the progress is wrong or compromised or in the pocket of Big Corporations.
The best moment in the Green Inc. interview arrived when it was over, and the first commentor, William Owen, wrote:
Nader’s perfectionist utopia is truly the enemy of the good.
The first duty of an environmentalist is to acknowledge his practical effect on the environment, and Nader’s practical effect in this decade has not been good. Yet Nader criticizes those who are doing good for not doing enough.
This afternoon, Greenpeace issued a press release skewering the compromise climate bill released today by Rep. Henry Waxman after intense negotation with fellow Democrats. From the words alone, you could swear someone was interviewing Ralph Nader again:
Despite Waxman’s best efforts, the recent version of the bill is so weakened by the influence of Big Coal and Big Oil that it just doesn’t get the job done.
This was Lauren Thorpe of Greenpeace’s Climate Rescue office. Let’s roll with the “climate rescue” metaphor: Someone you love as much as you should love the Earth–your mother, say–has fallen overboard. What you really need is a lifeboat, but Henry Waxman is about to throw her a life preserver. So you say, “Hold it right there, Henry! That’s not good enough.”
Al Gore wasn’t good enough for Ralph Nader so we got George W. Bush, thank you very much. And if you don’t let Henry throw your mother a life preserver, you might as well throw her an anchor.
Nobody loves this climate bill–that’s what compromise means. No one thought a climate bill would get this far, much less have a chance to pass the full House this year, but that now appears possible–only because of compromise. Shall we toss it an anchor, Greenpeace? Here’s an idea: Let’s not ask Ralph Nader. Instead, let’s ask the guy Ralph Nader sunk:
“It is a good start,” Gore told CNN. “I think the essence of this challenge … is to set in motion the forces of change so that we shift over to renewable energy and start making the job-creating investments that are going to really get our economy going on a sustainable basis…. Once that transition begins to shift, it will be unstoppable, because countries all over the world are beginning to do what we’re beginning to do.”