The Death, Now Afterlife, Of Environmentalism

"The same polls that identify high levels of public support for environmental protection also reveal that support to be shallow. Americans care about “the environment,” but when faced with competing demands on their time, money, and attention, they don’t appear to care all that much.

The increasing difficulty in advancing an agenda -- despite growing movement sophistication -- clearly does. It suggests that simply 'more' -- more money, more organizing, more experts -- is unlikely to enable the environmental movement to once again win big.

...In sum, two sorts of change are needed. One is to elevate “politics” as a discussion about values and a constructive vision for the future. Another is to reconnect “environment” to the realm of everyday concerns with quality of life and livelihood. By pursuing both these aims, we can build a more powerful movement to promote the well-being of communities and ecosystems together."