The Death of Environmentalism” (DOE) should be called “The Death of Elite, White, American Environmentalism.” A critique of the environmental movement that draws on neither the perspectives nor achievement 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 the fatal flaws of that part of the environmental movement infected the critique itself. These omissions inspire me to paraphrase Sojourner Truth, and ask “Ain’t I an environmentalist?”
I was struck by how the piece echoed the National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summits of 1991 and 2003, both of which I attended. A review of the attendees list indicates that neither Shellenberger nor Nordhaus were present at either Summit. Their critiques also repeated analyses from letters EJ leaders sent to leaders of white environmental groups since 1990. It’s unfortunate that the authors have begun to attack the EJ movement, calling it fetishized NIMBY-ism, while making the contradictory claim that environmental health issues aren’t real concerns in communities of color (February 23rd UC Berkeley campus newspaper The Berkeleyan; tape of the panel).
for more go here:
http://www.ludovicspeaks.com/2005/05/aint_i_an_envir.ht