Environmentalism

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{{Cquote|Clean up the air 'n' treat the animals fair|30|30|Captain Beefheart}}
 
{{Cquote|Clean up the air 'n' treat the animals fair|30|30|Captain Beefheart}}
'''Environmentalism''' is the philosophy that the [[Earth]] is like a ship far out in the middle of the ocean, and if there's a fire we should make an effort to put it out on the grounds that ''we have nowhere else to go!''  Environmentalists are often called ''Greens''.  They are fundamentally opposed by the ''Grays'' who believe the Earth is like a front yard in the middle of New Hampshire where we can just let the grass grow up to hide/shade the sleeping dogs and leave a bunch of parted out cars laying around leaking oil and transmission fluid, and any effort spent trying to raise the planet's "curb appeal" is [[socialism]] and reminds them of when their mothers told them to clean up their rooms.  Besides, Jesus is coming any minute now to clean it all up for us anyway.
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'''Environmentalism''' is a movement for the preservation and improvement of the [[nature|environment]].
  
 
==Real environmentalism==
 
==Real environmentalism==

Revision as of 23:32, 20 February 2011

Clean up the air 'n' treat the animals fair
—Captain Beefheart

Environmentalism is a movement for the preservation and improvement of the environment.

Contents

Real environmentalism

Several issues which the environmental movement raises are genuine:

  • Global warming.
  • Promoting vegetarian and vegan diets as more environmentally friendly. Meat is 16 times more energy intensive to produce and emits 24 times more greenhouse gases than plants.[1]
  • Chemical pollution from manufacturing and agriculture.
  • Protection of endangered species.
  • Creation of wildlife sanctuaries to prevent local extinction (aka extirpation).
  • Opposition to the further expansion of the use of fossil fuels.
  • Encouraging better industrial and municipal waste management practices.

Environmental woo

Environmentalism is a necessary response to a negative impact of human activities on nature, but it has often been a realm in which much pseudoscience and woo has flourished unchecked. Science-based environmentalism, based on study of biology and ecology and the formulation of appropriate and effective public policy to curb and mitigate human impacts on same, can be contrasted with such woo as:

  • Gaian Theory, in which the planet itself is seen as a self-correcting living organism.
  • A related notion, popularized in the 1970s by writers like Barry Commoner, is that ecosystems if left alone will seek a natural stasis. While no serious scientist believes this today (ecosystems are always changing and evolving, sometimes catastrophically), the idea persists among some environmentalists.
  • Hard green extremists who see humanity or industrial civilization itself as the problem, and want to radically depopulate the planet and go back to an imagined idyllic "state of nature".
  • Greenwashing, advertising tactics aimed at convincing consumers that if you buy this magical biodegradable plastic or specially formulated gasoline you are helping to "save the planet"; Clean coal is a prominent example.
  • Doomsday scenarios, taking legitimate concern over things like overpopulation and peak oil to an unrealistic extreme, and making prophecies which are either premature or unnecessarily alarmist.
  • New Age ideas like earth changes, or that returning to "earth"-based religions like neopaganism is necessary to save the planet
  • Other woo sold to consumers claiming they can conserve energy with it, such as automotive woo making unfounded claims to improve fuel efficiency
  • "Earth woo" in general is popular, using symbolism to convey a sense of environmental consciousness. If something has the words "earth", "green", or "planet", or an image of the planet as viewed from space, it is assumed to be environmentally friendly or part of "green" culture. Uses range from corporate greenwashing to popular books like the Whole Earth Catalog.
  • Opposition to nuclear technology (most of it[2]), as well as making a big fuss over every minuscule radiation-related incident.
  • Opposition to genetic engineering, particularly of food crops.

Unfortunately, much of the woo has flourished within popular culture even as serious, science-based environmentalism has also flourished. Sorting out the difference can sometimes be a snipe hunt.

Disputed issues

  • Whether or not organic food is beneficial to the environment or just woo is debated. The answer depends on whether one considers reducing the amount of pesticides entering the food chain more important when the trade-off is increasing the amount of land required to grow the same food (up to 40% more), encroaching on open space and wild areas. Another problem with organic farming practices is the dogmatic rejection of genetic engineering.
  • The "paper or plastic" question and the "incandescent or fluorescent light" question could likewise be defended either way, depending on which environmental issue has the higher priority (saving trees versus saving the ocean; curbing global warming versus keeping mercury out of the food chain).

Denialism

Denialism is a different sort of environmental woo, pretending environmental issues don't exist in the hope they will go away.

See also

References

  1. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html
  2. There are valid reasons to consider other sources of energy, but most of the reasons that anti-nuclear activists cite are either misguided or nuclear exceptionalism.
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