Green Is the New Red Quotes

“Vegans have a way of circling every conversation back to food, much like born-again Christians have a way of returning every conversation to the scripture.”
― Will Potter, Green Is the New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege

“The coalition's internal talking points are written with startling candor. They reveal the groups' description of what they see as the true threat of the animal rights movement. Activists are dangerous not because of violence, or the potential for violence. 'These tactics have been very successful,' the talking points say, in 'damaging the financial footing of corporations involved in animal enterprise.”
― Will Potter, Green Is the New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege

“Douglas called this a 'deterrent effect,' and it would later become the legal concept known as a 'chilling effect.' The law was unconstitutional not because it banned subversive speech but because it chilled it, turning the free flow of ideas into a crystallized mass, silent and cold.”
― Will Potter, Green Is the New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege

“Too often, journalists report 'both sides' as if they were equal, even when one side is riddled with lies and motivated by self-interest. Over-reliance on 'official' government and corporate sources, and deference to their word, has taken precedence over critical, investigative reporting that speaks truth to power.”
― Will Potter, Green Is the New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege

“Power in ALEC does not come from political acumen, it comes from brute financial force ... After corporate members use ALEC to draft legislation, the 'model' bills go home with state legislators. The ALEC bills are introduced, debated and voted on by other lawmakers who think the proposals are democratic creations. The method is ruthlessly efficient and effective.”
― Will Potter, Green Is the New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege

“The campaign drew heavily from the American anti-apartheid movement of the 1980s, which led to the dismantling of racial segregation programs in South Africa by targeting the one thing which—unlike protests or letters or phone calls—no government can ignore: money ... SHAC set out to make Huntington the South Africa of the corporate world. They identified banks, suppliers, customers and employees—anyone with any financial ties to the lab, from Fortune 500 companies to toilet paper suppliers. They focused on businesses with no vested interest in animal experimentation, either philosophically or economically; Huntington needed them, but they did not need Huntington.”
― Will Potter, Green Is the New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege

“Ultimately, the rise of the Green Scare was no conspiracy. It does not seem to be the result of any secret planning document drafted jointly by industry and the FBI. The shift was gradual, slowly merging the rhetoric of industry groups with that of politicians and law enforcement. Eventually, what was once a fringe argument became official government policy.”
― Will Potter, Green Is the New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege

“A nice industry of crisis management firms has joined the fray by producing reports that identify 'threats' to business, including activist groups. In this industry built upon fear, corporations pay firms to identify threats to their profits, which leads to more campaigns to address these threats, which leads to more reports, and on it goes. The financial motivation to identify threats results in some interesting reports. For instance, the Society of Toxicology paid a private firm, Information Network Associates, to create a threat analysis in preparation for the group's annual meeting, ToxExpo. One section of the report profiled Seattle activists, including what schools they attended and whom they were dating.”
― Will Potter, Green Is the New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege

“Abbey's work inspired a quickly maturing environmental movement and threw some dynamite on Rachel Carson's fire. As he later wrote, 'Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.”
― Will Potter, Green Is the New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege