Not too long ago, an essay entitled Death of Environmentalism was published. It is influential among greens for so many reasons. Now, like a phoenix, environmentalism, if it had died, is experiencing a rebirth in the United States. The green movement is regaining the popularity it once had.
One of the contributing factors for the rebirth is the support coming from the Republican party in the United State. According to The Economist:
Many factors lie behind the party’s shift. Most have to do not with sudden sentimentality in the face of Nature, but with national security (a motivation that lies, too, behind Ms Pelosi’s new committee and Mrs Clinton’s patriotic posturing). Fiscal hawks fret about the impact of growing oil imports on the dollar. Military types fear global conflict for dwindling resources in the event of catastrophic global warming. Neoconservatives worry about America’s dependence on oil imports from unstable if not openly hostile countries in Latin America and the Middle East. Some think the solution is simply to pump more oil at home, but others argue that America needs to move away from oil altogether. One such figure, Jim Woolsey, a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, pointedly drives a Toyota Prius, a famously fuel-efficient car.
At the same time, a growing number of evangelical Christians are beginning to see global warming as a moral issue. They argue that mankind, as steward of God’s creation, has a duty to protect the environment. One outfit, the Evangelical Climate Initiative, encourages prominent pastors and theologians to sign a “Call to Action”. Another group, the Evangelical Environmental Network, runs a website called “What would Jesus drive?” Last year Pat Robertson, a prominent televangelist, told his flock, “We really need to address the burning of fossil fuels.”
I think modern environmentalism have undergone three revolutions. In my opinion, the three revolutions could be associated with certain personalities.
The first: John Muir.
Second: Rachel Carson.
Third and current: Al Gore.
