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Introduction

Apocalyptic environmentalism

Emancipatory environmentalism.

environmentalism

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environmentalism , political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities; through the adoption of forms of political, economic, and social organization that are thought to be necessary for, or at least conducive to, the benign treatment of the environment by humans; and through a reassessment of humanity ’s relationship with nature. In various ways, environmentalism claims that living things other than humans, and the natural environment as a whole, are deserving of consideration in reasoning about the morality of political, economic, and social policies.

For additional discussion of ethical issues related to the natural environment, see environmental ethics . For discussion of environmental statutes and regulations, including international conventions, see environmental law .

Intellectual underpinnings

Environmental thought and the various branches of the environmental movement are often classified into two intellectual camps: those that are considered anthropocentric, or “human-centred,” in orientation and those considered biocentric, or “life-centred.” This division has been described in other terminology as “shallow” ecology versus “deep” ecology and as “technocentrism” versus “ecocentrism.” Anthropocentric approaches focus mainly on the negative effects that environmental degradation has on human beings and their interests, including their interests in health , recreation, and quality of life . It is often characterized by a mechanistic approach to nonhuman nature in which individual creatures and species have only an instrumental value for humans. The defining feature of anthropocentrism is that it considers the moral obligations humans have to the environment to derive from obligations that humans have to each other—and, less crucially, to future generations of humans—rather than from any obligation to other living things or to the environment as a whole. Human obligations to the environment are thus indirect.

Know why India's Ganges River and its tributary the Yamuna River, as well as New Zealand's Whanganui River, were granted the same legal rights as people in 2017

Critics of anthropocentrism have charged that it amounts to a form of human “ chauvinism .” They argue that anthropocentric approaches presuppose the historically Western view of nature as merely a resource to be managed or exploited for human purposes—a view that they claim is responsible for centuries of environmental destruction. In contrast to anthropocentrism, biocentrism claims that nature has an intrinsic moral worth that does not depend on its usefulness to human beings, and it is this intrinsic worth that gives rise directly to obligations to the environment. Humans are therefore morally bound to protect the environment, as well as individual creatures and species, for their own sake. In this sense, biocentrics view human beings and other elements of the natural environment, both living and often nonliving, as members of a single moral and ecological community .

By the 1960s and ’70s, as scientific knowledge of the causes and consequences of environmental degradation was becoming more extensive and sophisticated, there was increasing concern among some scientists, intellectuals , and activists about Earth ’s ability to absorb the detritus of human economic activity and, indeed, to sustain human life. This concern contributed to the growth of grassroots environmental activism in a number of countries, the establishment of new environmental nongovernmental organizations, and the formation of environmental (“green”) political parties in a number of Western democracies . As political leaders gradually came to appreciate the seriousness of environmental problems, governments entered into negotiations in the early 1970s that led to the adoption of a growing number of international environmental agreements.

The division between anthropocentric and biocentric approaches played a central role in the development of environmental thought in the late 20th century. Whereas some earlier schools, such as apocalyptic (survivalist) environmentalism and emancipatory environmentalism—as well as its offshoot, human-welfare ecology —were animated primarily by a concern for human well-being, later movements, including social ecology, deep ecology , the animal-rights and animal-liberation movements, and ecofeminism , were centrally concerned with the moral worth of nonhuman nature.

Anthropocentric schools of thought

The vision of the environmental movement of the 1960s and early ’70s was generally pessimistic, reflecting a pervasive sense of “civilization malaise” and a conviction that Earth’s long-term prospects were bleak. Works such as Rachel Carson ’s Silent Spring (1962), Garrett Hardin’s “The Tragedy of the Commons” (1968), Paul Ehrlich ’s The Population Bomb (1968), Donella H. Meadows’ The Limits to Growth (1972), and Edward Goldsmith’s Blueprint for Survival (1972) suggested that the planetary ecosystem was reaching the limits of what it could sustain. This so-called apocalyptic, or survivalist, literature encouraged reluctant calls from some environmentalists for increasing the powers of centralized governments over human activities deemed environmentally harmful, a viewpoint expressed most vividly in Robert Heilbroner’s An Inquiry into the Human Prospect (1974), which argued that human survival ultimately required the sacrifice of human freedom. Counterarguments, such as those presented in Julian Simon and Herman Kahn ’s The Resourceful Earth (1984), emphasized humanity’s ability to find or to invent substitutes for resources that were scarce and in danger of being exhausted.

Beginning in the 1970s, many environmentalists attempted to develop strategies for limiting environmental degradation through recycling , the use of alternative energy technologies , the decentralization and democratization of economic and social planning, and, for some, a reorganization of major industrial sectors, including the agriculture and energy industries. In contrast to apocalyptic environmentalism, so-called “emancipatory” environmentalism took a more positive and practical approach, one aspect of which was the effort to promote an ecological consciousness and an ethic of “stewardship” of the environment. One form of emancipatory environmentalism, human-welfare ecology—which aims to enhance human life by creating a safe and clean environment—was part of a broader concern with distributive justice and reflected the tendency, later characterized as “postmaterialist,” of citizens in advanced industrial societies to place more importance on “quality-of-life” issues than on traditional economic concerns.

Emancipatory environmentalism also was distinguished for some of its advocates by an emphasis on developing small-scale systems of economic production that would be more closely integrated with the natural processes of surrounding ecosystems. This more environmentally holistic approach to economic planning was promoted in work by the American ecologist Barry Commoner and by the German economist Ernst Friedrich Schumacher . In contrast to earlier thinkers who had downplayed the interconnectedness of natural systems, Commoner and Schumacher emphasized productive processes that worked with nature, not against it, encouraged the use of organic and renewable resources rather than synthetic products (e.g., plastics and chemical fertilizers ), and advocated renewable and small-scale energy resources (e.g., wind and solar power) and government policies that supported effective public transportation and energy efficiency .

The emancipatory approach was evoked through the 1990s in the popular slogan, “Think globally, act locally.” Its small-scale, decentralized planning and production has been criticized, however, as unrealistic in highly urbanized and industrialized societies. ( See also urban planning ; economic planning .)

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Environmental movement essay.

The environmental movement is a social movement dedicated to the management, protection, and restoration of the natural environment. Also referred to as the conservation movement, or more recently, the green movement, it is one of the more successful social movements of the 20th century, for it secured widespread public support and influenced governments to establish agencies and pass legislation consistent with the goals of the movement.

Although the movement is rooted in many ideas from the conservationist movement of the early 20th century, what can be called the modern environmental movement did not begin until the late 1960s and early 1970s. During this time the movement benefited from the increased political mobilization and cultural climate that accompanied the civil rights and anti-war movements. Also helping to launch the environmental movement was new scientific evidence increasingly indicating that human activity was harming the natural environment. Environmentalists pointed to river fires, gas station lines, and factory soot as examples of avoidable human behavior that was damaging to the environment.

Numerous highly publicized disasters occurred during the 1970s and 1980s that further increased public awareness. Two of these events—the near meltdown at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, in 1979 and the explosion at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986— involved mishaps with nuclear energy. Both events received considerable media and public attention, resulting in a decline in public support for nuclear energy. In 1989, an oil tanker, the Exxon Valdez, hit a reef off the coast of Alaska, resulting in leakage of an estimated 11 million gallons of oil into the sea, one of the largest oil spills in U.S. history. The images of sea animals covered in oil further outraged the public and produced increasing support for the environmental movement into the 1990s.

Government agencies were established and legislation was passed near the beginning of the environmental movement, and these agencies and laws remain in effect today. In 1969 came the National Environmental Policy Act and establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency as a federal agency devoted to protecting and preserving the environment. In 1973, the Endangered Species Act sought to save species who were threatened by environmental destruction.

Various organizations promoting environmental-ism have also had a profound impact. Two of the first organizations, the Sierra Club and the National Audubon Society, have been promoting environmental issues for more than a century. Sporadic grassroots protests, referred to as Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) movements, reflect local concerns of the environmental movement by discouraging the establishment of waste sites and trash incinerators in local communities. Earth Day—first held on April 22, 1970— continues to serve as a day encouraging Americans to be particularly cognizant of environmental issues.

Recently, the environmental movement began focusing on such macro-level concerns as global warming, ozone depletion, and rain forest loss. In 2005, an agreement among more than 160 countries, known as the Kyoto Protocol, went into effect. Countries ratifying this protocol agreed to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases considered harmful to the environment. The United States has not ratified this protocol despite being the world’s most significant producer of greenhouse gases.

Demographically, the environmental movement is primarily a middle-class movement. Many attribute the affluent nature of this movement to the greater amount of time devoted to recreation by the middle class and the tendency for the middle class to focus on aesthetics. A recent trend in the movement, however, has been an emphasis on environmental justice, which emphasizes racial and class disparities in the level of harm caused by pollution and waste. Those participating in the movement tend to be younger in age than participants in most other social movements. Despite the rural nature of the early conservationist movement, those participating in the environmental movement are more likely to reside in urban areas.

Although the environmental movement receives a great deal of public support, some groups resist the movement. Businesses with economic incentives to engage in what many consider to be environmentally harmful practices oppose the movement, typically stating that claims made by environmentalists are exaggerated or mythical. Recently, however, businesses have begun to alter their practices and images to act and appear more environmentally friendly. As a result, the culprit has become the general public, and emphasis has shifted to individual responsibility for environmental concerns.

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In this essay, the author

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How the largest environmental movement in history was born

The first Earth Day in 1970 drew 20 million people to events across the United States (Credit: Getty Images)

Ageing protesters still speak of the first Earth Day with reverence. On 22 April 1970, 20 million people took to the streets across the United States to protest environmental destruction. The nation had recently witnessed the devastating impacts of the Santa Barbara oil spill and seen the first photographs of the Earth taken by astronauts. The beauty of that blue marble pictured from space contrasted bleakly with the lamentable state of the Earth that they knew from the ground.

The campaign was led by a senator from Wisconsin called Gaylord Nelson, and organised from a temporary office in Washington DC staffed by college students, many already veterans of protest campaigns of the 1960s, including the civil rights movement. But anyone was free to arrange their own festivities. “That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day,” wrote Nelson more than three decades later in his book Beyond Earth Day. “It organised itself.”

The Evolution of the Environmental Crisis

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Today’s environment movement began between the nineteen-sixties and the nineteen seventies in the United States. The early form of the movement stemmed from a couple well known environmental disasters and issues. Over the past five decades, environmentalism has become a multifaceted movement. It is an issue that passes through politics on a local, state, and federal level, influences education, health, the media, along with many other things. As people in power and big corporations continue to make decisions based on their want for money, they begin to disregard the harmful effects they are having on human life and the environment we live in, this is why the environmental movement is still relevant today and growing environmental concerns have become fixed in the awareness of the American population.

The History of the Environmental Movement in the United States

The modern-day environmental movement in the United States stems from multiple publicised events through the nineteen-sixties and nineteen-seventies, which include oil spills on the coastlines of California, hydrogen bomb testing on Bikini Atoll, and the growing usage of chemicals, like insecticides and many others.

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In the nineteen-sixties the pollution of the Great Lakes, particularly Lake Erie, called for the rise of Environmentalism in the United States, it was publicised throughout the media as the “Lake Erie Fire” and greatly assisted in environmental consciousness throughout the American Population. Debris on the Cuyahoga River was on fire, leading to severe property damage because of how polluted Lake Erie and waterways nearby were. This event was the most perfect representation of environmental destruction at the time that Randy Newman wrote the song “Burn on” based off of its inspiration and Dr.

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Suess’ environmental awareness book, The Lorax , incorporates the name “Lake Erie” into it at one point.

In the nineteen-sixties and the nineteen-seventies, the environmental movement was mainly focused on preservation. This growing concern for preservation of forests, lakes, rivers, and so on, in the United States came about as a result of the lake fires, like the “Lake Erie Fire,” oil spills, and the use of insecticides. Rachel Carson’s book, “Silent Spring,” sheds light on the result of the use of insecticides and a pesticide called DDT, Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, has on animals, specifically the bird population. One bird species that was impacted by humans’ use of the chemical DDT was the bald eagle; it reduced this species’ population and thinned the bird’s egg shell lines. The bald eagles recognized as an endangered species attracted the media, mainly because it’s the nation’s bird, resulting in the creation and implementation of laws such as the Endangered Species Act.

The effect environmental destruction has on the human race and it’s population also became a worry, ensuring that environmentalism will be a topic that must be addressed in the democratic agenda throughout Kennedy and Johnson’s administration. Because of the growing consciousness of what environmental damage can have on our health and it’s dangers, the establishment of many laws were put into place, but not until President Richard Nixon took office in nineteen-sixty nine. Democrats sponsored the National Environmental Policy Act of Nineteen-Sixty Nine, “which required an environmental impact assessment before approval of government and corporate development projects and allowed citizen activists and environmental groups to file lawsuits against prominent polluters.” Nixon was hesitant when signing this legislation and promised to start a nationwide campaign with the goal of protecting the environment. But, today many environmental activists tend to criticize Richard Nixon for unsuccessfully acting on what he had said with strong enforcement against big corporations. “Born in the wake of elevated concern about environmental pollution, EPA was established on December 2, 1970 to consolidate in one agency a variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection.” The Clean Air Act of Nineteen-Seventy gave the Environmental Protection Agency the responsibility of ensuring we have good air quality to maintain the public welfare and health. The Clean Act of Nineteen-Seventy Two served to regulate the quality of our water and the pollution that is dispersed into our waters.

Anti-Vietnam and New Left Movements were alongside the Environmental Movements on college campuses. The rising environmental activism in the nineteen-sixties influenced the making of the first Earth Day in nineteen-seventy and the teach-ins on the environment that occured in schools all around the nation.

The Modern-Day Environmental Movement

Today, the Environmental Movement is no longer about just preserving our environment, but it is more focused on climate change and greatly takes into account class, race, and gender. When the first Earth Day occurred on April Twenty-Second, Nineteen-Seventy, the movement was mainly focused on pollution in the United States, now we have shifted the focus to climate change and although climate change affects us all, it affects others more severely specifically low-income people of color. According to National Geographic, climate change can be defined as “a long-term shift in global or regional climate patterns. Often climate change refers specifically to the rise in global temperatures from the mid-20th century to present.” The cause of climate change today is by human activity, a good example would be the burning of fossil fuels. Multiple UN scientists said that we have twelve years to form every aspect of the economy into one that will stop the climate crisis.

In hopes of slowing down climate change, climate activists are pushing to pass the Green New Deal, a ten year plan to fight the climate crisis. This was proposed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and asks the federal government to part away from fossil fuels and dangerous greenhouse emissions in the American economy, along with assuring new, well-paying jobs in clean energy industries. It also attempts to fixs issues in society, like racial injustice and economic inequality. It is important to keep in mind that if the Congress approves of the Green New Deal, it will not be put into place as a law. As written by Lisa Friedman in her article “What Is the Green New Deal? A Climate Proposal, Explained,” she writes “The resolution uses as its guide two major reports issued last year by the United Nations and by federal scientists who warned that if global temperatures continue to rise, the world is headed for more intense heat waves, wildfires and droughts. The research shows that the United States economy could lose billions of dollars by the end of the century because of climate change.” According to the Green New Deal, we must meet net-zero emission by twenty-fifty worldwide, with the United States taking the lead in doing so. Republicans, which include President Donald Trump himself, Senator Tom Cotton, and Senator John Barrasso claimed that the Green New Deal will take away one’s “airplane rights,” force Americans to “ride around on high-speed light rail, supposedly powered by unicorn tears,” and livestock would be banned; All invalid statements that are not stated in the proposal. The document does ask the federal government to invest in policies and projects that can alter how we travel, eat, and architecture, but none of which is stated above, while also distancing away from rejecting certain technologies or sources of energy with hopes of gaining more support.

The Sunrise Movement is currently one of the largest and most well-known organizations throughout the nation that is using an army of young people to fight against climate change, pass the new deal, and give millions of jobs to the next generation. It began in the summer of 2017, when a small group of young climate activists joined forces with an interesting idea: creating a movement large enough to match the size of the threat that is the climate crisis. They spent almost a year studying contemporary social movements, and historical social movements which include but aren’t limited to the Civil Rights Movement, LGBTQ Movements, Anti-Vietnam War Movements in order to replicate our generations “Vietnam Era level of mobilization,” but they believe that is what is necessary. They built support from numerous people around the country and began to take action, facing politicians with progessive views on climate and receiving the support from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. This brought national attention and Sunrise Movement branches/hubs began to spread all throughout the nation. Shortly after, Mitch McConnell decided he wanted to rush the vote of the Green New Deal, so the Sunrise Movement planned an emergency action. Representatives of the movement flew to Washington D.C. and occupied his office to protest. Varshini Parkash says, they are “making this an issue a political priority” the federal government can’t avoid and the youth is a part of that.

My Contribution To End The Climate Crisis

Within the past six months, I have attempted to do what I can do in order to fight the climate crisis as an individual. It is because of the research I had done on the topic on my own, as well as my friend, and climate activist, John Paul Mejia’s input and influence. It wasn’t until then that I realized the severity of this issue and the importance of every individual to act on it as soon as possible. I grew deeply concerned with not only what would happen in my future, but also my family’s future, as well as our generation’s children. It was a wake-up call in my mind that made me aware of the fact that if we don’t act now, we may not have a planet to live on in a century from now.

There are multiple small changes you can make in your own lifestyle in order to act against this issue. To start off, I have minimized my use of plastic and when I do use it I recycle it properly. I have also attempted to reduce my carbon footprint, have attended multiple climate protests, and joined the Cleo Institute. Like stated on the website, “The CLEO Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization exclusively dedicated to climate change education, engagement, and advocacy in Florida,” based in Miami; Cleo is a great and easy way to get involved in the environmental movement in the United States.

One extremely easy thing I did and anyone can do is become informed. Although, this issue may seem obvious to some, to many others they may not have a clue and if they do, they most likely don’t understand how serious the climate crisis actually is. Try reducing your carbon footprint by traveling by walking, bike riding, using public transportation, and so on (transportation is one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions around the world!). What I also like to do is shop smarter. I make sure that the companies I am contributing to support sustainability and are transparent as to where their products are sourced from. Lastly, you can vote for the Earth. By this I mean that you should vote for politicians in favor of the Green New Deal and address the issue. It is up to the youth to determine where we go in our journey of fighting the climate crisis.

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Environmentalism | Ideology, History, & Types | Britannica
environmentalism, political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities; through the adoption of forms of political, economic, and social organization that are thought to be necessary for, or at least conducive to, the benign treatment of …
Environmental Movement Free Essay Example - studymoose.com
The environmental movement is represented by a range of organizations, from the large to grassroots. Due to its large membership, varying and strong beliefs, and occasionally speculative nature, the environmental movement is not always united in its goals. Don't use plagiarized sources. Get your custom essay on “ Environmental Movement ”
Environmental Movements Essay - EssayEmpire
Environmental movements may have squared the circle. Measured by size, income, formality of organizations, number and professionalization of employees, and interaction with established institutional actors, EMOs in industrialized countries have, since the late 1980s, become institutionalized.
Environmental Movement Essay - EssayEmpire
Demographically, the environmental movement is primarily a middle-class movement. Many attribute the affluent nature of this movement to the greater amount of time devoted to recreation by the middle class and the tendency for the middle class to focus on aesthetics.
Environmental Movement Essay | Bartleby
Background: The radical environmental movement started in the 1970s with two groups, Greenpeace and Earth First! as major influences. Greenpeace formed to address the issue of whaling and nuclear testing, they took matters into their own hands by directly addressing the issues on the front line.
Essay On Environmental Movement - 899 Words | 123 Help Me
The environmental movement can be defined as a newly emerging disciple brought on by widespread fear of the weakening environment. Advocating for sustainable management of resources and the protection of the environment through changes in individual/global behavior and public policy or law.
How the largest environmental movement in history was born - BBC
It is the largest environmental movement in history. Fifty years on, Future Planet talks to Earth Day’s original and present-day organisers to hear how the movement evolved.
The Evolution of the Environmental Crisis Free Essay Example
Essay, Pages 8 (1855 words) Views. 106. Today’s environment movement began between the nineteen-sixties and the nineteen seventies in the United States. The early form of the movement stemmed from a couple well known environmental disasters and issues. Over the past five decades, environmentalism has become a multifaceted movement.