Don't Fear the Reapers: On the alleged "Death of Environmentalism"
In This Series
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An environmental-justice advocate insists he’s not dead yet
Ludovic Blain. “The Death of Environmentalism” should be called “The Death of Elite, White, American Environmentalism.” A critique of the environmental movement that draws on neither the perspectives nor achievements of the environmental-justice (EJ) movement is, at very best, incomplete. That the DOE interviews and recommendations only focused on white, American male-led environmentalism meant that […]
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The environmental movement won’t thrive till it tackles economic development in low-income districts
Growing up in east Los Angeles as the son of Central American immigrants, the everyday challenges faced by the people in my community seemed far removed from the American dream: the lack of good housing and jobs, failing schools, scraping together money for groceries, and all-too-common police brutality. If you had asked us, we would […]
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Why race and class matter to the environmental movement
This piece is excerpted from the essay “The Soul of Environmentalism: Rediscovering Transformational Politics in the 21st Century.” The full essay can be found here. Elvis was a hero to most,but he never meant shit to me …— Public Enemy, 1989 Activists of color may not want to stand on John Muir’s shoulders. Environmentalism in […]
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Civil-rights, suffrage activists didn’t give up, and neither should environmentalists
This piece is adapted from a speech given before the Alliance for Global Sustainability last month at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. The full speech — “Reflections on Sustainability and Universities and Whether Environmentalism Has Died” — can be found here. Are the reapers quitting too soon? The environmental community is in […]
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Four environmental funders join the debate over the movement’s future
When Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus delivered the talk that has everyone talking, they chose an influential audience: environmental grantmakers. Although the now (in)famous pair focused on mainstream advocacy organizations in their discussion of the death of environmentalism, others have contended that new thinking by the folks who write the checks is key to revitalizing […]
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Environmental funders share blame for movement’s weak pulse
In responding to “The Death of Environmentalism,” activist Ken Ward writes, “If the future toward which we rush is folly, the solution proposed by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus is foolishness.” In this excerpt from his full rebuttal to the essay, Ward describes the role environmental foundations play in frustrating effective campaigning, and suggests that […]
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Dramatizing the “death” of environmentalism doesn’t help urban people of color, or anyone else
“Death” is such a harsh term — can’t we say “transition to a happier place”? Adrienne Maree Brown. Photo: Sophia Wallace. Or, how else can I put this … You don’t have to fall out of the tree. Just climb down and join us on the ground. Let’s talk. If you work on environmental issues, […]
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Enviro-justice activists send a dispatch from a panel with The Reapers
Thursday, 3 Mar 2005 SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. The Asian Pacific Environmental Network was invited to speak on a panel yesterday with “Death of Environmentalism” coauthor Michael Shellenberger, Taj James, executive director of the Movement Strategy Center, and Adam Werbach, past president of the Sierra Club. The goal was to broaden the debate about the future […]
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Four emerging environmental leaders discuss the future of their field
To continue the conversation about the ostensible “death of environmentalism,” we invited four next-generation leaders to discuss the issue with one another via email. Herewith, in almost real time, we are publishing their thoughts in our pages. All the participants are fellows with the Environmental Leadership Program, which works with emerging activists and professionals to […]
