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Article Series: Global Warming
Global Warming & Climate Change -
What Do I Need To Know?
Environmentalist
Colors: Light Green vs Dark Green
Environmentalists
all the world over have argued about campaign strategies
which involve the degree as
to which they should take side with the government or private
firms. Often, there is an inability of environmentalists to
agree on issues. Strategies are available to environmentalists
and ideology plays a large part in choice of strategy. A general
way of explaining the differences within the environmental
movement is as an uninterrupted spectrum from light to dark
green. This spectrum, at times, is broken, due to incompatible
goals within the environment movement. The spectrum from light
green to dark green is explained as follows:
Light
green environmentalists have environmental strategies available
which range from activism to negotiation. Groups
who want a good ongoing working relationship with policy makers
to smooth the progress of negotiation; activism becomes less
of an option because it can cause confrontation, which can
hamper the mutual trust needed for the relationship to work.
Likewise, the power of groups who negotiate with governments
count on their capability to sway voters and this requires
respectability and restraint which many types of activism ruin.
Light green environmental groups prefer non-violent actions,
however, even activists in lightest green spectrum are considered
as being provoking and show a lack of trust towards society’s
decision-makers.
Dark
green environmentalists are more willing to be confrontational
towards corporate and political power, unwilling to avoid activism
in order to advance the relations necessary for negotiation.
They are usually ideologically against negotiation and the
compromises that it involves. Successful negotiations are difficult
due to the lack of shared goals and theories between them and
the policy-makers.
Environmental
organizations use protest actions such as demonstrations,
blockades, pickets, protest marches and meetings are the traditional
method for groups of people to get their message across to
the wider public. It is used as a technique for getting people
involved in a meaningful way to challenge unfair policy, a
heartfelt commitment felt by a group about an important issue,
and a way to get publicity to put pressure on government officials.
The environmental group, Greenpeace, uses symbolic actions
such as pipe blocking to garner publicity. They raise public
awareness about issues by concentrating on the worst, and have
been successful at raising funds rather than changing behaviors.
Greenpeace is considered as becoming increasingly a lighter
shade of green but with dark green roots.
The dark greens make deals that raise fundamental ethical
questions. They feel that the environment is a resource and
those who subscribe to it believe it is acceptable to compromise
it in order to save the most valuable areas, thus the dark
greens often agree to trade-offs that can lead to some environmental
sacrifices. The capability to make deals and accept trade-offs,
and to tone down on the confrontation, allows entry into the
decision-making process. For others the road to power is through
an involvement with the government.
Positive activism is intended to create a sense of necessity
and crisis so that people will scream out for immediate change.
However, negotiation can work against this by diffusing that
sense of crisis and giving the feeling that there is no need
to worry since environmentalists are leading government in
the right direction. This can create an inaccurate sense of
confidence given the lack of power of negotiating environmentalists.
Of course any one environmental group will have different types
of people as members and it is not so easy to characterize
large groups as light or dark green. It is argued that there
is room in any social movement for both reformers and the more
radical, thus the environmental movement is able to have room
for both the light and the dark green. But, conflicts arise
from the differing perspectives and ideologies, and also from
effects of differing strategies.
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: 2007
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