DIFFERENCES IN OPINION

It would be easy to assume that everyone wanting to protect and preserve the environment shares the same views and has the same goals.   Not so.   There are as many  different ideas about the means to achieve environmental success as there are supporters of environmental issues. Sometimes there is a battle over whether to conserve and preserve our natural ecosystems or whether to discover how they can be used sustainably.   Sometimes the conflict is between the professional environmentalists and those who are amateurs.   Sometimes preservation of  the environment directly opposes the needs of humans.  When jobs will be lost in order to save an area’s resources  (example:   the spotted owl and the logging industry in the U. S. northwest),  the conflict between the sides is often bitter.

Ironically, it is this very conflict that often helps promote the cause of environmentalism.  Any major conflict  between groups  makes instant headlines  in the news.   While this  may seem  completely
negative,  it also pushes  environmental issues into  the public’s awareness.   If this were not done, environmentalism would have a difficult time accomplishing its goals.

Yet, too much controversy between environmentalists themselves can cause a fracture in the movement that may be irreparable.  If we can’t agree among ourselves what is the best way to approach environmental problems, how can we expect others on the sidelines to want to join in the cause?

Environmentalists are often viewed by the public as radicals, extremists who would have everyone be vegetarians and live in grass huts in tune with nature.  Yet, there are many types of environmentalists.   It is  imperative that  all points of view be considered  in this important  movement and a  reasonable compromise  reached between ideas.   That is why  it is important to  approach environmental issues through interdisciplinary work that combines many fields in order to achieve progress.

CULTURAL BARRIERS

Another important hindrance  is the difference in philosophy and  culture that exists  between countries.  Lifestyles of people in one area of the world can be totally opposite those of people in another area.  Yet, each side feels they are living appropriately, based on their own perspectives.  This can be a major cause of divisiveness in the environmental movement.  For further details see Lifestyles.

PREJUDICES

Racial prejudice  can also cause  division in any group.   If differences in  race are the  major concern of certain individuals, the goals of the group as a whole cannot be achieved.  The focus is taken away from the cause which the group is promoting and is placed instead on the differences between the individuals in the group.  This topic is discussed further under the heading Racial Divisiveness.

UNWILLING TO SACRIFICE

While many  of us claim  to be  concerned about the environment,  we are also used  to exploiting our natural resources for  our own convenience.   When asked if we  want to protect the environment,  we reply, “Of course.”   Yet, when we are asked to give  up something in terms of convenience to achieve this goal, we are not as eager to follow through with our convictions.

POVERTY

A great majority of undeveloped countries are impoverished.  Often this is what motivates the people to abuse their natural resources.  Unless we can eliminate or at least decrease this inequity in the world, we cannot make substantial progress towards achieving our environmental goals.

Gro Harlem Brundtland,  former prime minister of Norway,  was quoted in the book Contemporary Environmentalists as saying: