Renegade Blogger

Environmentalism, noun: advocacy of the preservation or improvement of the natural environment; especially: the movement to control pollution.

There’s been speculation recently as to weather or not the environmental movement is dead, and sadly, I think there right. While the Sierra Club, respective PIRGS, and other interest groups both national and local are doing there best the American public isn’t conscious enough the realize the rape of the environment that going on right now. We’ve fallen under a spell cast by the Bush Administration, Republicans nationwide and the media. Were brainwashed, disorganized and non-caring. I think perhaps the biggest problem facing the environmental movement today is the lack of acceptance and unification.

The environmentalist movement today is an elitist organization. “We have to save this or that so that nobody can use it accept to walk in”. Well what good does that do us? How many people want to save a track of land just to hike in? Greens need to realize that they can become the strongest lobbying group in Washington if they agreed on a few basic things. The first is this: not everyone has the same interests, some like to bike, camp, hike photograph, and dare I say it? Even hunt. If the greens realized this and took steps to initiate fair use terms for land that is protected think of the alliance that would start to form between two of the largest interest groups in the county, the NRA and the Sierra Club. Both would want to protect forests, prairies and other wild lands for basically the same reason, to enjoy and watch wildlife. As long as a balance was maintained between the two groups everything would work out. Imagine the possibilities.

What troubles me now however is the fact that Americans aren’t paying attention to what’s going on around them, the Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, and various other environmental movements have been gutted or repealed. New loopholes exist for coal power plants to pour chemicals and pollutants into the air and now more than ever our national lands and animals are coming under attack. Perhaps one of the reasons why can be better emphasized by retelling a conversation I had a few summers ago while canvassing for Ohio PIRG. I went into this mans backyard where he was working on his boat, I figured this was a good sign as the issue we were currently working on had to deal with the lake. I gave him the scpiel but when I asked for a simple donation of ten dollars he refused, saying that he already bought special license plates, and those funds were supposed to go towards protecting the lake. As I look back on that now perhaps we can place a little blame on the failing economy, but only a little, for its our own lack of attention that will cause our nations environmental downfall.