Supporter of the week: Walt Patterson

Hannah Booth

20 October 2011

To celebrate Friends of the Earth's 40th anniversary, I've been talking to some of the supporters who've made it all possible. Walt Patterson (right), energy expert, is a nuclear sceptic who advocates greater energy efficiency.

"I first wrote about the effects of a nuclear accident in an article for New Scientist back in 1972 - so Fukushima didn't come as a surprise - and it hasn't changed my mind about nuclear power.

"It's the slowest, most expensive and riskiest option.

"I gave an interview to the BBC World Service the day the Japan earthquake happened, and after that, my phone didn't stop ringing. But I'd enough of talking about this subject. 

In an ideal world, we would stop wasting so much energy.

"Government and big business are the biggest users so they need to set the example - individuals shouldn't be made to feel guilty.

"If modern buildings were more intelligently constructed they would need very little energy. The trouble is, we make trashy buildings then pump them full of gas and electricity. 

"I was Friends of the Earth's first energy campaigner, in the early 70s, when the subject of energy was front page. Before then, it was always called fuel or power.

"Where would our energy come from, in an ideal world? The sun. But we're so preoccupied with fuel, we forget about it. We could make more sophisticated use of it now."

Check out our Final Demand campaign for energy we can all afford.

Find out the facts about the many forms of renewable energy.

To see all the supporters I've interviewed, visit our 40th anniversary gallery.

Hannah Booth also writes Lives Less Ordinary.