Offshoot-1: Radical Environmentalism
Radical environmentalism, as the title suggests, refers to social movements that coalesced around radical environmentalist ideologies and/ormethods of activism. These movements were typically led by environmentalists who became frustrated with the "measured" thinking and activism of modern environmentalists (recall: mainstream, grassroots, often middle-class). Some of the earliest organizations--such as, Greenpeace (formed in 1972)--drew members from the Antiwar movement of the late-1960s and early-1970s, and applied the same highly-public confrontational tactics to draw attention. Consider, for example, the incident that erupted yesterday in Portland: click here.
• Describe some examples of radical environmentalism?
o What made the philosophies and/or the tactics of these organizations "radical"?
While radical environmentalism predates the 1980s, they flourished in response to the policies of President Ronald Reagan (p. 254).
o Explain how and why the so-called "Reagan Revolution" radicalized environmentalism. In other words, how and why were these movements spurred by the policies of President Reagan.
Offshoot-2: Environmental Justice Movement
The environmental justice movement is not mentioned per se by Steinberg. However it's origins are described. Environmental justice is a form of political/legal protest and activism in defense of economically-underprivileged peoples and communities who are (so often and unjustly) in harms way of industrial pollution.
• An important forerunner of the environmental justice movement was the incident that took place at Love Canal, near Niagra Falls, NY during the late-1970s.
o Identify the environmental justice issues that the "disaster" underscored.
o How and why did Louis Gibbs succeed in gaining relief from the U.S. government.
o Can you see why this was such a politically momentous event in U.S. history?
Environmental justice began in earnest in 1982, when environmentalists and civil rights activists joined hands in defense of a poor African
American community in Warren Country.
o In what ways did this incident inform the defining features/issues of environmental justice?