It's been almost a month since UK environmental writer Mark Lynas apologized for his prior anti-GMO activism. His speech, let's recall, was an internet sensation. Many applauded Lynas's change of heart (he is now firmly pro-GMO), plenty others jeered it, and more than a few rolled their eyes. And everyone has moved on except anti-GMO campaigners. They remain quite angered by Lynas's speech, which is understandable, since they were singled out by him for being irrationally zealous and anti-science. Maybe they feel their cause took a big hit, too, along with their credibility. Then there's the sense of betrayal. Lynas was one of them. True, he had already made his conversion several years earlier, but this was different. Lynas's speech was a moment of high drama in which he publicly renounced his own history and his former comrades. It was compelling. The story received worldwide attention. But was it all true? Anti-GMO campaigners have lately mounted a campaign against Lynas. At the heart of it is a charge that he's greatly exaggerated his role in the anti-GMO movement. One of the accusations, that Lynas has become an "ambassador for the biotech industry," is recycled, which he has already rebutted when it first surfaced in 2011. But the other charges now being made against him would be damning if true. So I contacted Lynas and asked him to respond. What follows is my Q & A with him, via email. KK: In your widely circulated speech from January 3rd, you said:
For the record, here and upfront, I apologize for having spent several years ripping up GM crops. I am also sorry that I helped to start the anti-GM movement back in the mid 1990s, and that I thereby assisted in demonizing an important technological option which can be used to benefit the environment.
In recent weeks, some greens and anti-GMO campaigners have asserted that you overstated your role in the establishment of the anti-GMO movement. This week, a website called SpinWatch posted a lengthy article by the director of GM Watch (an organization opposed to biotechnology). He suggests that you played little, if any role in the anti-GMO movement. The article states:
Nobody we have spoken to among the many leading figures of the 1990s counts Lynas as either a founder or a leader. Indeed, if he was even involved in the grassroots actions of 1995-1996, then nobody we spoke to remembers it.
