Environmentalism Limits

On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day, spurred on by environmental destruction, 20 million people took to the streets to protest. It was specifically motivated by the catastrophic impacts of the Santa Barbara oil spill and the first photos of Earth, transmitted from space. The first Earth Day would be the largest demonstration ever in American history, on that day, politicians rushed to act on environmental issues. But just a week later, it seemed like the protests had left many politicians' minds, the focus was back on the Vietnam War.

Even though the effect of the protests didn’t last long, the message behind it did. It was the birth of the modern environmentalism movement and it’s continued till today. Even though the US has made some cuts to emissions since 1970, overall consumption of raw materials has still increased, resulting in a planet that is in a worse place environmentally than in 1970. The environmentalism movement has largely been unsuccessful in transitioning the US into a more sustainable country. This movement has some limits that are contributing to this failure.

The environmentalism movement of today is pragmatic and incrementalistic. It takes small steps at a time, making compromises, and taking what it can get. This is also connected to the fact that the movement tends to deal with effects rather than the causes themselves. In The Bridge at the End of the World, author James Gustave Speth highlights how “most of our major environmental laws and treaties, for example, address the resulting environmental ills more than what causes them.”

This movement also believes that change can be brought about in an economically viable way, that costs can be economically acceptable. That without significant lifestyle change or declines in economic growth, we will be able to lower our impact on our planet.

Lastly, environmentalism movements rely heavily on action from the top- that is, from bureaucracies and corporations. This includes regulators such as the EPA and experts at UNEP. Action from the top, as seen throughout the past decades has failed. The government is driven by an urge to sustain economic growth- which increases acceptance rates and bolsters tax revenue. Passing environmentalist policies could cause a drop in that growth. Corporations have taken a step forward in recent years to decrease their environmental impact, but in past decades haven’t taken significant action on sustainability issues.

Sources:

The Bridge at the End of the World

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200420-earth-day-2020-how-an-environmental-movement-was-born