Kerry Spot    [ jim geraghty reporting ]
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The New York Times doesn't think much of Michael Crichton's "State of Fear," saying his latest novel "reads like a shrill, preposterous right-wing answer to this year's shrill, preposterous but campily entertaining global warming disaster movie "The Day After Tomorrow.""

Reviewer Michiko Kakutani seems particularly irritated by Crichton’s choice of villains, militant environmentalists who commit terrorism to call attention to their cause. “The ludicrous plot revolves around efforts by radical members of an environmental group called NERF (National Environmental Resource Fund) to surreptitiously trigger a series of natural disasters including a supersize hurricane and a giant tsunami that would hit California with 60-foot waves; these disasters would be timed to coincide with the group's big media conference, thereby awakening the public to the dangers of climate change wrought by global warming.”

Okay - environmental groups do not appear to have the ability to cause natural disasters. Of course, this is a science fiction book from the guy who wrote Jurassic Park, right?

But the concept is ludicrous, huh? Shrill and preposterous? Been following the local news around DC lately, Michiko?

From the Baltimore Sun:

WHEN ARSONISTS torched a 206-unit housing project under construction in an environmentally sensitive area of San Diego last year, they left behind a 12-foot banner declaring: "If you build it, we will burn it. The ELF's are mad."

The acronym is for Earth Liberation Front, a loosely organized ecoterrorism group that FBI officials say is setting a rising number of fires nationally targeting urban sprawl, SUVs and other symbols of harm to the environment. The ELF has avoided killing or injuring people, but it usually leaves a sign to make a political statement, according to the FBI.

Last week, when 26 new homes were burned near an environmentally sensitive area in Charles County, investigators found no signs of ELF or similar groups, no spray paint and no e-mails to media claiming credit.

Barry Maddox, spokesman for the FBI office in Baltimore investigating the arsons, said this lack of a normal feature of ecoterrorism does not mean the agency is shying away from the possibility of arson by ELF or a similar group. Investigators say the fires were set, almost certainly by more than one person. The agency is considering all possible motives, Maddox said.

"Groups that do crimes like this often leave calling cards, but that won't necessarily exist in all crime scenes," he said. "Some can be in a group but not use the same process that's been used in the past."

From the Washington Post:

Law enforcement officials met with leaders of Charles County's black community to reiterate that no evidence points to a racial motive, a subject of speculation because many of the residents moving to Hunters Brooke are black.

"There's been no evidence, no suggestion, just nothing at all to support a racially motivated crime here. And typically you would see that," said Capt. Joseph Montminy of the Charles County Sheriff's Office.

The county's black population has grown rapidly in recent years. Edith Patterson, the chairwoman of the Charles County Democratic Central Committee, who is among the candidates pursuing a spot on the Board of County Commissioners, said, "Charles County will not tolerate racial bias or discrimination."

The subdivision has been the subject of a long battle with environmentalists because it is near the Araby Bog, a wetland that is home to rare plants and insects. Local environmentalists said they were shocked by the arsons and believed no one opposing the development would resort to such a crime. Some militant environmental groups, such as the Earth Liberation Front, have committed arsons in other parts of the country to stop developments they opposed.

Montminy said investigators have not ruled out this motive. "The size of the crime is similar, and [ELF] has a history of doing arsons. We'd have to consider that," he said.

Nah, the fringe of the environmental movement would never use violence to achieve its goals.

[Posted 12/13 10:46 AM]