Environmentalism for the 1%
The departure of the Sierra Club's chairman -- Carl Pope -- comes during a dark moment for environmentalism. The vanguards of the green movement have compromised their core conservation ethic, forging alliances with corporations and ignoring the grassroots in order to make way for an unchecked renewable energy industry that is more intent on destroying public lands than saving them. A recent Los Angeles Times article highlights how Pope may be a casualty of this attempt to gain influence in Washington and Wall Street, but his approach has been practiced by other national environmental groups, including the Wilderness Society, NRDC, Center for Biological Diversity, and Defenders of Wildlife. These groups have desperately sought acceptance among business and political elites, painting themselves as job creators by selling out America's landscapes to big wind and solar firms, and then bragging about the jobs they have supported. What have they gained? Loss of respect among