 | Environmentalism Why are our environmental problems still growing despite a huge increase in global conservation efforts? Peterson del Mar untangles this paradox by showing how prosperity is essential to environmentalism. Industrializationnbsp;drove peoplenbsp;to look for meaning in nature even as they consumed its products more relentlessly. Hence England led the way in both manufacturing and preserving its countryside, and the United States created a matchless set of national parksnbsp;as it becamenbsp;the world's pre-eminent economic and militarynbsp;power. Environmentalnbsp;movements have produced some impressive results, including cleaner air and the preservationnbsp;of selected species and places.nbsp; Butnbsp;agendasnbsp;that challenged western prosperity and comfortnbsp;seldom made much progress, and many radical environmentalists have been unabashed utopianists.nbsp;Environmentalism considers a wide range of conservation and preservation movements and less organized forms of nature loving (from seaside vacations to ecotourism) to argue that these activities have commonlynbsp;distracted us from the hard work of creating a sustainable and sensible relationship with the environment. David Peterson del Mar grew up in a very rural area as the son of a commercial fisherman and worked as a labourer for a sawmill. Over the past twelve years he has taught environmental history in Canada and the United States and has published four books on social history, including the award winning What Trouble I Have Seen: A History of Violence against Wives (1996). |
