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There is no hostile ' take-over' - Sierra Club's Carl Pope interfering in electionYour [Philadelphia Inquireer] editorial of February 5 entitled "Changes at the Sierra Club, the Danger Lies Within" is troubling because of the mis-information and unsubstantiated accusations that you have chosen to report as fact. I am the Sierra Club National Director that your editorial states has "been jailed for eco-terrorism." This is untrue. I do not have a felony criminal record and I have never been charged with "eco-terrorism". What is the source for this accusation? My organization the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is not a radical group, we are a legitimately registered marine conservation organization that tracks and intervenes against illegal whaling and fishing operations. I may have sunk some illegal whaling ships, but I have not been charged or convicted as a result. In fact a Hollywood movie is being made about my activities. To call anyone a terrorist is a serious allegation and I trust that the Enquirer would not knowingly publish such an accusation without verification from law enforcement agencies. If you do not have this documentation, which I am confident you do not, I would request that you do me the courtesy of retracting your allegation. Finally there is no alliance between any animal rights group and any immigration reform group and certainly no conspiracy. What we have is a classic power struggle within the organization where the established bureaucrats are threatened by a change of direction in priorities as directed by the membership in their election of directors. There is no hostile "take-over". In fact a hostile takeover cannot work in a system where the membership selects it's directors by ballot. This would be akin to accusing the Democrats of attempting a hostile take-over of the White House. What we do have is an Executive Director Carl Pope who is improperly interfering with the democratic electoral process of the Board that is responsible for his position. Carl may be concerned about new directors challenging his authority or threatening his job and this is precisely why he is prohibited by the by-laws from interference with the election. In my opinion he is seriously in violation of these by-laws. It was Mr. Pope who made the allegations to the Los Angeles Times about an alliance that he has no evidence to prove and it was Mr. Pope who implied that those who question population growth and immigration are racists. In doing so he was out of order. I would suggest that you assign a reporter to investigate the whole story and not parrot the mistakes already published in other publications for that is what it appears your paper has done in this case. - Captain Paul Watson, National Director - Sierra Club USA, February 4, 2004
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