Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
'The death of environmentalism' by Shellberger and Nordhaus (2004). The thrust
of this article was that the American environmental movement had lost its edge by
being increasingly obsessed with achieving incremental policy or technological changes
and through constantly applying a very narrow understanding of the 'environmental'.
Its importance lies in the debates it stimulated and the prescriptions it advocated.
Environmentalists must act differently and forcefully. Its contribution to the
sustainability project lies very much in the belief that agency must be allied with
clear principles and values that go beyond pragmatism, weak sustainability or anthro-
pocentric environmentalism. However, the fashioning of a green democracy, or
ecological citizenship for individuals, community groups, business corporations and
government agencies, is dependent on the politics of the possible and realizing
the imperatives of a sustainable society. This has been taken up by Tom Burke
of the Green Alliance, a UK-based lobby group and think-tank, with the notion of
third generation environmentalism
. The first two generations of environmentalists,
he notes, were predominantly outsiders, concerned initially with environmental and
habitat conservation issues, only later incorporating a more social and economic
dimension, but still focusing on protecting natural resources. For Burke, the time is
now right for insiders to transform the policies and practices of major institutions
of government and big business. In a speech marking the 25th anniversary of the
Green Alliance in 2005, Burke noted that third-generation environmentalists
are to be found in their hundreds of thousands within the walls of bureaucracies,
financial institutions, universities, trades unions, professional associations and
elsewhere. They have all been infected with the environmental virus and they
carry it with them wherever they work.
The need is to break out of the green ghetto and the way to do this is threefold:
1
To communicate better - 'We understand the environment better than we
do people. We need to frame our arguments in terms that resonate more
immediately with others. Without a stable climate, national security and
economic prosperity are impossible, the world will not be fairer, communities
will not be stable, families will be hurt, personal opportunities will be limited,
our children's future will be stolen. But we rarely sound as if we are talking
about those everyday concerns.'
2
To get real about political discourse - 'Changing environmental outcomes
in the twenty-first century will require some serious money. Today, we spend
just under 300 billion pounds a year on social protection, health and
education. We spend about 55 billion pounds on internal and external
security. We spend a fraction over 7 billion pounds on the environment. Do
you really believe those are the right proportions to ensure the continued
wellbeing of the British people, as our environmental problems accumulate
faster than we are finding solutions for them?'
3
To build stronger institutions to defend the environment - 'We build
institutions to consolidate and express our values - to make them manifest
in the world. It is a strange thought that, as environmental problems have
become more pressing, our national and international environmental
institutions have become weaker.'
(Burke, 2005)
