(Detailed)

I have a detailed Print page, with links to many good environmentalist and activist publications.

Thinking Globally/Acting Locally

I've gone bicoastal, so it might be said that I think global and act loco. At any rate, this section reflects two versions of "local."

Peace and Nonviolence

The environmental and social justice movements have converged, and it's about time! I've been active in both for years, and have long felt that they would both benefit by making common cause.

In his book Losing Ground, Mark Dowie describes four waves of the environmental movement, with the latest, "the fourth wave," being the environmental justice movement and related grassroots efforts (I'll discuss the other waves by and by). Other books on this movement are Jim Schwab's Deeper Shades of Green, and several books by Dr. Robert Bullard.

-=-= Open Directory's EJ Page =-= Yahoo's EJ Page =-=- Center For Health, Environment and Justice ·· Formerly the Citizens Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste, this is the grassroots group that sprang up in response to the toxic waste at Love Canal. Communities for a Better Environment ·· This multiracial urban environmental group has done a whole lot in a short period of time. Check out their various projects. Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund ·· Legal eagles for the Earth. Formerly the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund. EcoNet (@igc) ·· A portal of sorts. Check out the EcoNet Calendar and sites. EJnet.org ·· A bunch of fact sheets and other practical online resources for environmental justice activists. Environmental Action (EA) ·· A "national political lobbying and eduction organization" with a longstanding grassroots emphasis and a tenacious commitment to environmental justice. Environmental Justice Resource Center ·· Based at Clark Atlanta University and directed by Dr. Robert Bullard, the EJRC is an indispensible resource for the movement. And as an online resource, this website is as good as it gets. Greenaction ·· Another multiracial urban environmental group that's done a whole lot in a short period of time. Founded by one of Greenpeace's best researchers. Green Map ·· The Green Map System helps people find the important environmental features of cities all over the world. It has become a tool for organizing grassroots EJ groups all over the planet! Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG) ·· Ralph Nader envisioned "public interest" groups as a means for citizens to organize against special interests. PIRGs have a democratic structure: there are statewide offices and a number of chapters at college campuses; and whatever the chapters vote for becomes the statewide agenda. For over two decades, chapters have consistently focused on (1) consumer issues and (2) environmental justice issues. It's remarkable that these students' concerns and activism reflects those of the grassroots. Rachel's Environment & Health Weekly ·· Rachel's keeps us informed about the many toxic and otherwise hazardous substances in our environment, where they come from, and what they do to our health.

Greens Green Parties Worldwide ·· The Green movement started in Europe, and has spread around the world. The Green platform is four pillars: Ecological Wisdom, Social Justice, Peace and Nonviolence, and Direct Democracy. This is a good basis for environmental justice (though here in the United States there are local Green Parties that have fallen far short of the "justice" part).   ·· alt.politics.greens  (Archive) ·· A Usenet newsgroup for folks to discuss the Green party and Green movements. Suffers from an especially bad signal-to-noise ratio. (I created this newsgroup, too.)

"Third Wave" Environmental Groups

Some groups, most notably the Environmental Defense Fund and the World Wildlife Fund/Conservation Foundation, are expending a lot of energy (and spending a lot of their contributors' dollars) advocating what has been dubbed "third wave environmentalism." The approach is to provide "market-based incentives" to get polluters not to pollute. This unfortunately has led to such things as permission to overpollute in one part of a company (for example, a factory) as a reward for not polluting as much in another of its facilities (for example, an office).

This strategy should come as no surprise to anyone who looks at the board membership of "third wave" organizations, which are filled with executives and representatives from major polluters. A closer look would also reveal lots of money flowing into these groups from foundations that are themselves heavily funded by the same polluters!

In practice, the "third wave" hasn't accomplished much but providing a thin premise for eroding environmental quality. It's turning out to be something of a wavelet -- albeit one which could produce a tsunami of cynicism. I won't waste your time with any links to these groups. I recommend that you don't waste your money on any contributions to them.

(Some of these groups do conduct valuable research and one of them even publishes a good magazine. They still don't need your money, though; they've got plenty of funding.)

The "second wave" of environmentalism occurred in the wake of the publication of Rachel Carson's landmark book, Silent Spring. It distinguishes itself from the "first wave" of conservationist and preservationist groups by a penchant for more action and a more sophisticated ecological outlook. Most of the well-known national and international environmental groups are "second wave" groups.

From the standpoint of many "fourth wave" activists, these groups have frittered away their relevance. In general, they've stuck to issues that are crowd-pleasers with the middle class. Most of them have bet the farm on junk mail and an "inside-the-Beltway" lobbying/compromise strategy, and have lost touch with the grassroots.

My heart and mind and energies are with the "fourth wave," but here's some of the second wave that's still worthwhile.

Earth First! My Earth First! Pages ·· Earth First! is a movement, not a group, and it differs from much of the second wave because of its emphasis on direct action and its uncompromising biocentric viewpoint. There is no central EF! organization, but there are autonomous EF! groups all over the world who may or may not keep in contact via the Earth First! Journal. There are divisions in the movement (as with any movement), and while one part is hostile to the very idea of paying attention to social justice concerns, I side with the part of the movement that embraces those concerns, is very active, and has served as a model for socially-aware biocentric wilderness activism around the world. Judi Bari was a particularly eloquent activist with this viewpoint, and my EF! page features a number of her articles.   ·· alt.org.earth-first  (Archive) ·· A Usenet newsgroup for folks to discuss Earth First! As is typical for Usenet, it has a bad signal-to-noise ratio.   ·· Earth First! Alert ·· An alerts list for EF! events and such. More news than alerts, and some chatter.

Good "Second Wave" Groups There are excellent "second wave" groups who simply stay focused on environmental issues. Citizens' Action for Safe Energy (Oklahoma) Earth Island Institute ·· This is a spirited and effective group, carrying on the legacy of its founder, David Brower. It operates by initiating and supporting a good number of projects, protecting the environment wherever it's needed (and, alas, wherever other groups are falling down on the job). Forests Forever ·· This group is highly focused on the single issue of saving forests. I'm personally more attuned to the socially-aware biocentric wilderness activism practiced by Northern California Earth First!ers (see above), but I appreciate this group's tenacity and I support them. Global Cooling Collective ·· Planting trees around the world to offset a bit of global warming. My Greenpeace Pages ·· Greenpeace has been an amazing organization for a long time. Today it's the largest established environmental group in the world and has long followed a strategy of forging helpful alliances with smaller grassroots groups. Founded to bring the concerns of ecology together with the concerns of the civil rights and peace movements, it presaged the environmental justice movement by decades. Alas, Greenpeace leadership has stumbled badly in recent years and I find that I must currently list them amongst the "second wave." They are recovering and getting back to their roots, hopefully stronger than ever. League of Conservation Voters ·· This organization keeps track of American politicians and their votes on environmental issues; a most valuable service. They also produce endorsement slates based strictly on these votes; but there's a flaw in that approach, because some politicians exert influence in ways other than their votes and vetoes. (For example, by working to weaken an environmental bill and then voting for it, their vote tallies up as pro-environment!) Rainforest Action Network Save Our Wild Forests Social Ecology Project World Resources Institute Worldwatch Institute

Two-Tiered Membership Groups The two groups listed here have interesting similarities. Both have been around since the Teddy Roosevelt conservationist/preservationist days ("the first wave"). Both have a federated structure, with a central national office and a bunch of local chapters. Both suffer from the inside-the-Beltway mentality, and have been instrumental in some truly awful compromises. Both have endeavored to squelch online criticism on email lists that they host (which prompted me to create the two unmoderated newsgroups listed here). Finally, and intriguingly, both have internal dissident reform factions who are trying to put an end to these compromises. Because of the federated structure, various local chapters of both of these groups have been active, uncompromising, and effective on some of the same issues that the national offices have been dropping the ball on! A lot of these groups' members are the grassroots. Audubon Society ·· They like birds, and when you like birds, you try to preserve their habitat. A few years back they were doing some great work with forest habitats, and more recently they've been focusing on wetlands. Unfortunately the emphasis has moved away from local chapters in recent years, and the organization has been drifting ever further from its grassroots.   ·· alt.org.audubon  (Archive) ·· A Usenet newsgroup for folks to discuss Audubon Society matters, in an unmoderated online forum. Sierra Club ·· Being in this club is like riding a roller coaster. It's the largest membership environmental organization in the United States, so it's subject both to stagnancy and to opportunistic attempts to sway its policies. Its tendency to wheel, deal, and compromise played a large role in inspiring the founding of Earth First! When it's good, it's very good; but when it sells out, it does quite a bit of damage. My local chapter reflects this same dichotomy, but you may have better luck with your own chapter.   ·· alt.org.sierra-club  (Archive) ·· A Usenet newsgroup for folks to discuss Sierra Club matters, in an unmoderated online forum.

Some Specific Environmental Justice Issues

The Internet can be an effective tool for activists, but be aware of its limitations. It's great for distributing documents and information geographically, but not in much depth; for that, you need to go offline and actually meet people. And bring the documents offline with you if you can, because not everyone can or will respond to an URL.

Online forums are no substitute for actual human interaction (and certainly no substitute for actual activism). Online discourse is very limited, and often prone to generating more heat than light. The forums listed here are a cut above the rest. And be careful not to fall into the trap of using them to the extent that you exclude activists who don't have the resources or time or inclination to participate in online forums.

Institute for Global Communications (@igc) ·· IGC brought many progressive activists online with a number of interrelated BBS-like networks (PeaceNet, Econet, WomensNet, etc.), and then as an Internet service provider. I've marked IGC-affiliated links with "(@igc)" in these pages. IGC members have long had access to a large number of "conferences" (newsgroups gatewayed with email lists) dedicated to progressive activism. These have been much more productive forums than Usenet newsgroups. IGC is now out of the ISP business, and focusing on providing information. Many of the conferences were moved to Topica. Misc.Activism.Progressive ·· Originally (and still) the ACTIV-L email list, and now a moderated Usenet newsgroup, m.a.p. is the most informative online publication available for progressive activists. I'm one of the early "co-moderators" of this newsgroup, though I must say, the other co-moderators have done the bulk of the work.   ·· misc.activism.progressive  (Archive) ·· The Usenet newsgroup itself. mutualaid.org riseup.net tao ·· TAO Communications hosts email lists and provides a number of online services for radical communities.

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