The Death of Environmentalism

Over the past decades, world leaders have tried to prevent environmental problems such as global warming. Billions of dollars have been spent on environmental problems, but results can barely be seen. This article brings up some interesting questions, like what we consider environmental?

There is a lot of information in this article that I've never heard before, and it brings up some new themes and issues that I found interesting;

"Why, for instance, is a human-made phenomenon like global warming — which may kill hundreds of millions of human beings over the next century — considered “environmental”? Why are poverty and war not considered environmental problems while global warming is?" (p.12)

It was shocking to read about how several good environmental suggestions were closed down or delayed in the nineties; "Tragically, had Bryan and environmentalists succeeded in 1991, they would have dramatically slowed the rise of SUVs in the coming decade and reduced the pressure on the Refuge — a patch of wilderness that the Republicans again used to smack around environmentalists under President George W. Bush." (p.18)

The article also provides a good insight on how complicated and complex these environmental problems are;

"The challenge for American environmentalists is not just to get the US to dramatically overhaul its energy strategy but also to help developing countries like China, India, Russia and South Africa do so as well."

"Environmentalists weren’t thinking about what we get out of each defeat. We were only thinking about what we get out of them if they succeed."