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In his attempt to denigrate myself and the Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST), Senator Marc Bean took three bites of the proverbial cherry and was still unable to make his point clearly.

He began his attack on the Senate floor. A week later he read a statement that included a half-hearted apology. Then he felt compelled to call Shirley Dill's radio talk show and try to further explain himself, after which people were still left confused about his point.

From reports of his first speech, he referred to BEST as Muppets. We had fun with that because the Muppets are well known and quite respectable, an image that matches our own.

And one of the most famous Muppets, Kermit the Frog, lamented in song that "it's not easy being green", a sentiment we identify with.

Senator Bean claimed his statement was made "to praise environmental groups like Greenrock".

Out of nine paragraphs, only one contained praise for Greenrock. The other eight castigated BEST or excused his disrespectful language.

Eight to one - you think praise was an afterthought?

In his second speech, read and distributed to the media, it became clear that not only is Senator Bean prone to using vulgarities, he based his whole tirade on a false premise.

Now, I would like to think a Government Senator and Junior Minister would not knowingly tell lies, so I can only assume he was misled.

Senator Bean said he was upset with us because we had been selective in choosing only projects to criticise Government.

Well, that doesn't hold water. First, when BEST took on the Southlands campaign, Government had not publicly declared its interest in the project. The same is true for Warwick Long Bay.

Second, the vast majority of BEST's engagements involve no criticism of Government, such as the formation of eco-clubs in some of the island's schools, initiating workshops on community empowerment and a forum on sustainable tourism, responding to queries from the public, joining the efforts to save the Lane Schoolhouse and Alexandrina Hall and making more than 40 submissions to the Draft Bermuda Development Plan.

Senator Bean then posits another falsehood, referring to me as "the former chairman of the Sustainable Development Roundtable".

Basic research would have told him I never held that position. But he uses that falsehood to suggest I care more about birds, bees and the trees than humans.

If this wasn't so absurd it would be funny.

First of all, no birds means no chickens and no eggs, no bees means no pollination and no honey or citrus and no trees means no fruits or lumber.

Without birds, bees and trees, our existence would be drastically altered.

Furthermore, anyone who has read my columns knows I am also concerned about seniors, education reform, community violence, the need for parenting skills and a whole host of other social issues.

So Senator Bean's criticism is not only unfounded but shows, at best, his ignorance and, at worst, his ignoring of the truth.

More important is the value of open space for human quality of life.

Research shows human crowding results in higher levels of crime and other social dysfunction.

Saving open spaces may be a valuable ingredient in reducing gun crime.

If more kids got to work off their aggression climbing rocks and trees, fewer might resort to violence.

Senator Bean may be too young to remember when, in the interest of quality of life, I and other environmentalists fought to preserve open spaces at Admiralty House and the sports arena in our most densely populated parish.

In his third attempt to make sense of his attacks, calling in to the talk show, Senator Bean repeated his justification for using vulgar language on strangers - that he had previously used derogatory language on his colleagues.

As though insulting one's friends then makes it okay to insult others.

Most telling was his explanation for calling us a "puppet show" because "others are pulling our strings".

When asked by Shirley Dill who was pulling the strings, he refused to answer. Since this was his third try at getting his point across, one would think he would have the whole story ready.

Public figures, especially government leaders, should make an effort to know the facts before attacking individuals or organisations.

And when the criticisms cannot be substantiated by facts, Senator Bean should retract his words and "man up" in his apology.

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