Bogart, Larry

Larry [Herman] Bogart was among the earliest and most influential critics of using the atom to generate electricity, warning as early as 1963 that nuclear power plants were too complex, too expensive and too inherently unsafe to sustain anywhere in the world. Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1914, Bogart attended Phillips Exeter Academy and spent two years at Harvard University. After serving under General George Patton in World War II, he became a public relations executive at Allied Chemical Corporation in the early 1950s. At Allied Chemical, Larry Bogart wrote many of the company's news releases and promotional materials, including those relating to the benefits of nuclear power.

After intensive research, study of government documents, and interviews with scientists active in the field, he came to understand the harmful effects of ionizing radiation. In the early 1960s, when he discovered aspects of nuclear power that deeply concerned him, Bogart founded the Conservation Center and eventually the Anti-Pollution League. In 1966, he founded the Citizens Energy Council, the first national citizen organization opposed to the proliferation of nuclear power.

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