In late 2004, Adam Werbach proclaimed that environmentalism was dead due to the movement’s unwillingness to connect with ordinary working people and its inability to effectively grapple with the most profound problem the earth has ever faced, climate change. His diagnosis was clear: In order to build the next liberal majority in this country, environmentalists must create bold new “frames” that will unite us with our working-class brothers and sisters around “shared values.”
Werbach argued that to win we must begin by challenging our most basic assumptions. “What if we stopped defining global warming as an environmental problem and instead spoke of the economic opportunities it will create?” he asked. It’s this kind of out-of-the-box thinking that has landed Werbach a new gig in Big-Box Land.
Yes, Adam Werbach, founder of the Sierra Student Coalition, youngest president of the Sierra Club, author, filmmaker, and self-proclaimed progressive-big-think guy, is going to be a consultant for Wal-Mart. Will he be working with the planet’s largest retailer to cut its carbon footprint by 50 percent, source its produc... Read more
