Posted by Juan Non-Volokh:
Kristof's Nighmare:
Nicholas Kristof [1]believes the environmental movement is in "deep
trouble." In today's NYT he explains:
environmental groups are too often alarmists. They have an awful
track record, so they've lost credibility with the public. Some do
great work, but others can be the left's equivalents of the
neocons: brimming with moral clarity and ideological zeal, but
empty of nuance.
What's more:
The loss of credibility is tragic because reasonable
environmentalists - without alarmism or exaggerations - are
urgently needed.
Given the uncertainties and trade-offs, priority should go to
avoiding environmental damage that is irreversible, like
extinctions, climate change and loss of wilderness. And
irreversible changes are precisely what are at stake with the Bush
administration's plans to drill in the Arctic wildlife refuge, to
allow roads in virgin wilderness and to do essentially nothing on
global warming. That's an agenda that will disgrace us before our
grandchildren.
So it's critical to have a credible, nuanced, highly respected
environmental movement. And right now, I'm afraid we don't have
one.
Kristof's column was prompted by [2]an essay on "The Death of
Environmentalism." For environmentalist reactions to the essay, see
[3]here.
References
1.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/12/opinion/12kristof.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1110640328-a8p9BJHvUN9moIVU7wNOzg
2. http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2005/01/13/doe-reprint/
3. http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2005/01/13/doe-intro/
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