There are three kinds of environmentalists in the world, loosely speaking. The first group try to get businesses to pollute less, and are focused on community issues and the direct impact of pollution and waste. The second kind are the animal activists, who have some points but some extremism as well.
The third kind promise a worse life for you and your children. They promise that either we will change our ways to live austere lives, possibly returning to 18th century technology, or the world is doomed. Most prefer not to put it that way, but that is what they are promising. George Monbiot is this third kind of Environmentalist, and he's written an article entitled, "Our Quality of Life Peaked in 1974. It's All Downhill Now."
In it, Manbiot basically says that everything sucks and will continue to suck. He is firmly anti capitalist, calling capitalism "a millenarian cult . . . built upon the myth of endless exploitation." He concludes his article by saying "We need to reverse not only the fundamental presumptions of political and economic life, but also the polarity of our moral compass. Everything we thought was good - giving more exciting presents to our children, flying to a friend's wedding, even buying newspapers - turns out also to be bad." It's all very cheery, and according to Mr. Manbiot, should begin happening in the next 5 to 10 years.
Environmentalist have to figure out a way to sell their point of view as something positive, not this terrible end of time situation. But they don't seem interested in doing that--I suppose it's less morally pure.
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