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Rescuing environmentalism
(From The Economist print edition, Apr 21st 2005)

Market forces could prove the environment's best friend—if only greens could learn to love them

"The environmental movement's foundational concepts, its method for framing legislative proposals, and its very institutions are outmoded. Today environmentalism is just another special interest." Those damning words come not from any industry lobby or right-wing think-tank. They are drawn from "The Death of Environmentalism", an influential essay published recently by two greens with impeccable credentials. They claim that environmental groups are politically adrift and dreadfully out of touch. They are right. In America, greens have suffered a string of defeats on high-profile issues. They are losing the battle to prevent oil drilling in Alaska's wild lands, and have failed to spark the public's imagination over global warming. Even the stridently ungreen George Bush has failed to galvanize the environmental movement. The solution, argue many elders of the sect, is to step back from day-to-day politics and policies and "energize" ordinary punters with talk of global-warming calamities and a radical "vision of the future commensurate with the magnitude of the crisis".