Environmental Problems IIAttitudes & Values
Presented by Nicole Machuca &
Kelly Grant Purvis
Question:
What is environmentalism?
The Beginnings of Environmentalism…
Andrew Light
• “Conservation wave” [Romantic thought] at the beginning of the 20th
century was led by Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, and
Aldo Leopold
– Environmental groups created, like the Wilderness Society and National
Park Service
– Roles of these groups in ecological and park preservation and conservation
began to be defined and investigated, e.g. places of solitude, moving to a
“natural” state, etc.
• Second wave began with Earth Day, April 22, 1970
– Greater role of government in water, air, and ecological protection and
health.
• 23 Acts passed, including Clean Water Act (1965) and Endangered Species Act
(1973)
– Environmental problem origins and solutions began to be discussed and
debated.
• Third wave [Beltway Environmentalism] resulted from fears of law
reversal and lack of governmental support in 1980’s
– Big 10 environmental groups switched from controversial issues, e.g.
industry regulation, to more appealing issues, e.g. popular animal
protection.
The Beginnings of the
Environmental Crisis…
Lynn White, Jr.
• ~ 1850 a “marriage”
between science and
technology occurred, and
thus “technological power of
nature”
• This relationship began
much earlier, e.g. water
power, the mechanical clock,
arms, etc.
• ~ 1873 ecology entered the
English language
• During the last 1/3 of the
20th century concern for the
state of the environment
began
Michael F. Maniates
• ~1980’s shift in
environmental
responsibility from
government and
corporation to the
individual
• 1980-1990s
Environmental
organizations avoided
government
confrontation and began
to support consumerbased behaviors in their
messages
Lingering Questions:
• How has environmentalism changed over
time?
• Is the class’ definition similar or
different to what it was over 150 years
ago?
• What is the role of environmentalism
now to ecological conservation and
preservation?
Main points…
White
• Human changes unintentionally affect their environment
• Ever since populous society humans have began to affect
their environment
• Christianity perpetuates the notion that man should
dominate nature in Western culture
• In the west, science and religion [Christianity] were once
parallel – modern science is the product of that
relationship
• Crises results from our democratic culture, modern
technology, and belief that we should dominate nature,
which originates from religion
• Problems can first be solved by stopping change, but this
will not mend the current situation
• Science and technology cannot help crisis until religion
changes
Main Points…
Andrew Light
• Environmentalism needs to
change if it is going to make
long lasting and integral
impacts
• Feelings of “place” are
important to connections
between community and
nature
• 4th wave – role of new
environmentalism to
connect communities to
“nature” ; question
wilderness and nature
Dale Jamieson
• Gap between US and global,
environmental attitudes
• An American Paradox exists
– contradiction between
thought and action
• Facts and values are linked
– Environmentalism is factbased
– Different regions believe in
different facts
• Solutions?
– US/individual needs
standards of success
– Creating a unified psychology
Main Points…
Michael F. Maniates
• Current “air” of environmentalism:
– The choice to make change is that of the individual, and thus nonconfrontational and apolitical, e.g. recycling, buying “green”
– Individualism overshadows creativity
– The best solutions are “fuzzy, mysterious, messy, and ‘idealistic’”
– Corporations have mastered their ability to adapt to current
environmentalism
• Current fork-in-the-road:
– > Easy, citizen education on individual action, privatization env.
crisis, business-as-usual
– > Difficult, collective citizen-action, creativity in solutions,
challenges the dominant view
• Recommendations
– Individuals need to unite in the democratic process
– IWAC (as a guide, not a direct solution)
Main Points…
Shellenberger & Nordhaus
• The arrogance of the founding fathers of the environmental movement
laid the roots of failure
– Disagreement about the root causes of problems
– Members of the environmental movement have become politically less
powerful
– As an environmental community we are hurting our own cause with a
narrow vision and “group think” mentality – Also prevents alliance building
and success
• Current predicament (40 years in the making)
– Define problem, apply technology, force the technical solution to be
accepted by the masses
– Our solutions lack links between the environment and technology, and
other institutions, like politics & economics
• Environmentalists need to…
– Create a compelling vision for the future
– Develop a broader scope of environmental problems
– Align their interests with “core values” of greater society [which tend to be
conservative] – like labor, health, religion, etc.
Lingering Questions:
• Is there a problem with the following
model?
Particularly the R for
recycling?
• Is government the problem or does the
blame fall on the individual?
• Who had the better perspective future
solutions: White [religion], Light
[community engagement], Maniates [shift
from ind. action to community action], S&H
[environmentalist], or Jamieson [paradox]?
Activity Time!
• Divide into 2 groups
• Develop a rank-ordered list of solutions to
the environmental crisis
• Aim for 10
Lingering Questions…
• Environmentalism is dynamic. Is there a
“right” type of environmentalism or is this
frequent shift healthy?
• What is environmentalism missing in its
current state?
• “Sustainability involves a three tiered
approach: environmental, social, and
economic.” – Jeff. If these are components of
sustainability, what will be the mechanisms of
change so that the movement is successful. Or
is sustainability unattainable?
Lingering Questions…
• If children are our future, how will we change
their attitudes and values, assuming ours are
already tainted? (Inspired by Lauren)
• Who has the most responsibility to the
environmental crisis: environmental
agencies, government, children, religion
individual citizens, communities, economists,
or some other stakeholder?
• Is it that our values as Americans are too
selfish to make environmental impacts, or is it
the “system” that has failed citizens? (Inspired
by Adam)