Green Elitism

One thing that I continually struggle with as a "Greeny" is the tendency of environmental organizations and their causes to be elitist at times. I think that environmentalism is sort of inherently elitist. After all, isn't saving old growth forests, darter snails, and salmon habitat really the business of those who are privileged enough not to have to worry too much about the direct effects of such things as poverty, homelessness, racism, war, and genocide.

And without a doubt, sometimes, environmentalist causes do run counter to those of under-privileged or disenfranshised peoples. Take the spotted-owl versus timber-dependent communities controversy in the northwest for example. Here, an owl did take priority over the economic well-being of some poor, rural communities, thanks to the ESA. As another example, how does NIMBY-ism impact those communities who lack the clout, time, and resources to fight polluting facilities and waste dumps. Inevitably, they lose out.

This is why I am so drawn to environmental justice causes. Environmental justice is environmentalism for "real people." Unfortunately, environmental justice issues are not something that mainstream environmental organizations will take up. Why? Because mainstream environmental orgs are elitist. Why are they elitist? Because their members are elitist and their members define their missions and drive their activities. Members of environmental organizations are white, middle class yuppies, after all. They are worried about whether or not they will be able to breath clean air while hiking through Arches National Park and not whether or not their drinking water is giving them cancer.

Look at me, ruthlessly criticizing a cause that is so near and dear to my heart. But I think it is important that we are able to critically analyze the organizations that we support. I think it is critical that we are able to anticipate the repercussions of their actions. And I have real concerns that in supporting my local environmental organizations efforts to prevent a power plant from being built in my backyard, I am helping to ensure that it will be built in the backyard of someone much poorer and politically powerless. I am worried that in supporting efforts to protect a rainforest in South America, that I might be helping to ensure that an indigenous tribe is up-rooted and displaced so that some rich American can have somewhere to build their resort. I think we "greenies" have to think about these things. I think that mainstream env. orgs. must incorporate environmental justice causes into their agenda.