Anti-environmentalism

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Anti-environmentalism is a backlash against the environmental movement. Anti-environmentalists believe that the Earth is not as fragile as environmentalists maintain, citing its 5 billion year existence.^[who?] Some also believe that environmentalism is born of humankind's exaggerated sense of importance, that environmentalism is an extremist viewpoint due accordant scrutiny and/or that some environmentalist factions use pseudo-science and scare tactics in an attempt to force their philosophical/religious values and political agenda on others. In the words of the IUCN for example: "Fear can be a great motivator, and it is one that environmentalists have long cherished".^[1]

Overview

Paula Snyder, Tom Denton and Peter Millson characterize environmentalist ideology as unscientific, irrational and anti-humanist.^[2]

"What we today call 'environmentalism' is ... based on a fear of change," says Frank Furedi. "It's based upon a fear of the outcome of human action. And therefore it's not surprising that when you look at the more xenophobic right-wing movements in Europe in the 19th century, including German fascism, it quite often had a very strong environmentalist dynamic to it." ^[3]

The British trade union movement, until the 1990s, argued that environmentalism was a form of middle class protectionism intended to protect their economic and political interests from the proletariat.

"Trees and forests provide a good example of how it's possible to have a growing economy and a growing population and a thriving environment," says Steve Hayward of the Pacific Research Centre. "The lesson from trees really applies across the environment. We have cleaner air today; we have cleaner water; we grow more food at less impact on the land; we have more wildlife diversity— and we've done all this while having a growing economy and a growing population." ^[4]

See also

• Astroturfing
• Vicente Canas
• Rachel Carson
• Climate change denial
• Energy lobby
• Global Climate Coalition
• Greenhouse Mafia
• Chico Mendes
• Wilson Pinheiro
• Dorothy Stang

Further reading

• Chris Mooney (2005). The Republican War on Science. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-04676-2. 
• John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton (2002). Toxic Sludge is Good For You. Common Courage Press. ISBN 978-1-56751-060-7
• Matthew Watkinson (2009). On the Destiny of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Elimination of Unfavoured Races in the Struggle for Life (free pdf). Troubador Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84876-306-9. http://www.scribd.com/doc/20205887/On-the-Destiny-of-Species-a-work-in-progress. 

References

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