@bluesky
thanks for the input but generally to "respect" anyone who reached the upper echelon of politics, especially but not only in france, this is considering the system and what it takes to get there, is something i have difficulties with.
if anyone is mentioned as respected who is part of the system and/or financially dependent on said system, this includes a major part of scientist in state services, immediately is raising the question:
respected by whom ?
mostly by their fellow conformists carrier hungry pals ?
even looking back in history, really new and worthy input often if not mostly came from those
who were not respected at all during their lifetime, only later when they were long dead (no further thread to the establishment)
this is a bit short, i know but then TLTR is also not welcome, hence this is for everyone who wants to consider and thing to the end themselves.
Thank you for your reply, I do somewhat agree with your comment that being part of the "system", may stained "respectability", barely for some rare exception.
I am not supporting Lepage and I am not part of her political spectrum.
Corinne Lepage, was environment minister back in the mid 90ies, and since then she has turned down any ministerial and official political office, apart from beeing very temporarilly the vice president of a political party from which she quickly resigned and distance herself, and an MEP, where I think she had been quite diligent.
When she was an environment minister , an impossible job in France, she fought hardly and (almost)successfully against the very powerfull nuclear lobby in order to decommission the surgenerator SuperPhenix, refusing to sign off "imposed" law by her colleague ministers, SuperPhenix was one of the most dangerous typer of nuclear plant, that revealed to be a technological and financial disaster and was finally decommissioned for ever one or two years after. I am not supporting her politically, but she wrote very informative books on nuclear energy, environment, and other subject, worth reading. You can respect someone with which you don't share all the views… She recently declared, in a polite way that the current Macron government was doing green washing, and had no intention at all to change the system the right way, and she considers more useful being outside of any governmental office trying to make thing evolve in accordance with the current environmental and climate change challenge, welcoming that Hulot finally resigned from a job that was giving fake environmental credential to the French government.
Before becoming an environment minister, she was already well known as a lawyer defending high profile environmental cases, e.g. she successfully defended the Britany councils affected by the very extensive and damaging 1978's Amoco Cadiz oil spill, at a time it was not easy to win this kind of court case.
Lepage would agree with most of what is on this forum, that we should profoundly change our way of life, way to run economy, reduce our consumption and footprint to face the current challenge, as Hulot said yesterday very vocally during his resignation interview.
This is not a bad thing to get more known and somewhat respected people (again does not mean that I personally support them) onboard and vocal on this side, maybe this will help to narrow down the knowledge gap with the wider society, maybe more citizen would make the walk to change their way of life and the society at the same time... let's hope despite the huge challenge ahead.
Apologies, if I write TLTR, but I'd rather write long and argumentative article with rational basis, than short affirmation with no rational (not talking about you)