Extinction Rebellion Spokeswoman Quits To Join Pro-Nuclear Group

Extinction Rebellion’s spokeswoman has quit the protest group to become a nuclear power campaigner.

Zion Lights, 36, has left the climate change cause, which brought London to a standstill last year, to join pro-nuke outfit Environmental Progress.

The former XR communications head said she had felt ‘duped’ after being surrounded by anti-nuclear campaigners until she read more into the radioactive fuel.

Mother-of-two Zion said: ‘The facts didn’t really change, but once I understood them I did change my mind.’
Zion, who was born in the West Midlands and given her unusual name as a baby, said: ‘I have a long history of campaigning on environmental issues, most recently as a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion UK.

‘Now, I have quit the organization to take up a position as a campaigner for nuclear power.’

The Environment Progress site suggests she joined their group on Sunday, with her profile dated that day.

Zion, who was grilled on the Andrew Neil Show last year, added to City Am: ‘Surrounded by anti-nuclear activists, I had allowed the fear of radiation, nuclear waste and weapons of mass destruction to creep into my subconscious. I realized I had been duped into anti-science sentiment all this time.’

It is an astonishing turnaround since her views in 2014 when she said there was no clear answer on the safety of nuclear power.

There was little reaction from Extinction Rebellion today after the news of her transfer was published.

Its website dodges the question of what it thinks about nuclear power saying it wanted to welcome ‘a variety of views’.

The group continues: ‘We believe a social movement is best built as a “broad church” and that respectful discussions should take place within the movement on a variety of topics.’

Zion has previously spoken about being worried about the environment since she was a child.

She was inspired after seeing an advert on television which said ‘it is not too late’.

Recounting the experience, she said: ‘I remember seeing it and having the horrible feeling of what if we are letting it be too late?”

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