{"id":710,"date":"2012-04-14T03:13:29","date_gmt":"2012-04-14T07:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.northbyram.org\/highlands\/newsblog\/?p=710"},"modified":"2013-03-07T10:09:02","modified_gmt":"2013-03-07T15:09:02","slug":"environmentalism-vs-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.northbyram.org\/highlands\/newsblog\/?p=710","title":{"rendered":"Environmentalism vs. Sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Editors note:<\/strong> This piece originally ran as the lead article in the April 14, 2012 NJ Highlands News<\/a> email newsletter, and is being posted “retroactively” to the blog on August 2, 2012, since it did not post as intended at the time it was written. With apologies for that oversight.]<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m straying a little from my normal format today, and including links to an important pair of related \u2018Long Read\u2019 articles that you should definitely<\/em> read. Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist<\/em><\/a>\u00a0 addresses the issue of environmentalism vs. \u2018sustainability,\u2019 through the eyes of Paul Kingsnorth<\/strong>, co-founder of the Dark Mountain Project<\/a>. In it, Kingsnorth states that \u201cWe are environmentalists now in order to promote something called \u2018sustainability\u2019,\u201d and then asks \u201cWhat does this curious, plastic word mean?\u201d He then goes on to profoundly describe his \u2018withdrawal\u2019 from modern environmentalism and the reasoning behind it.<\/p>\n

The second article, Hope in the Age of Collapse<\/em><\/a>, by Wen Stephenson from the Thoreau Farm Blog<\/a>, delves deeper into Kingsnorth’s essay, offering an analysis from a differing viewpoint through a series of communications between Kingsnorth and Stephenson<\/strong>. It also contains links and references to another handful of excellent \u2018Long Reads\u2019 well worth digging into.<\/p>\n

Both articles hit home hard to me. Like some of you, I\u2019m questioning just where we are heading currently as environmentalists. I\u2019m beginning to feel that \u2018sustainability\u2019 has become synonymous with \u2018mediocrity\u2019<\/strong> and that the foundational forces funding our movement are pressuring NGOs \u2013 using philanthropic social engineering \u2013 to buy into this \u2018sustainability\u2019 bullshit. Let’s all hold hands and sing Kumbaya while the environment burns!<\/p>\n

While New Jersey’s environmental resources in general \u2013 and the Highlands in particular \u2013 are being hacked and shredded by the current administration, foundational funders and mega-corporate monsters like WalMart, PSE&G, Covanta, NJ American Water and others are enabling soccer Mom’s in SUVs to be green-brain-washed into thinking that their \u2018sustainable Green Team points\u2019<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(link updated March 7, 2013) <\/em>or recycling or shopping at farmers markets or changing lightbulbs are making a difference, all the while deflecting focus (and desperately needed funding) from the real, pressing environmental issues of the State that need serious fighting at the grassroots level. Energy policy. Land use policy and the State Plan. Water quality. Air quality.<\/strong> It’s all suffering, and absolutely no amount of accumulated \u2018points\u2019 is going to change that.<\/p>\n

There, I said it out loud<\/strong>. There’s no taking it back now.<\/p>\n

I know this is true – I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes. I’ve heard it with my own ears. Something must be done now to address this dilemma. I know that many leaders in our environmental community feel the same way, but are afraid to speak up for fear of losing the precious and shrinking foundational funding they already receive<\/strong>. And what makes me even madder are the leaders and organizations who have sold out to corporate influences and \u2018mediocrity\u2019 for the almighty (mitigation) dollar, rather than stay true the causes for which they were formed. But that’s the topic of another day’s rant.<\/p>\n

The question I keep coming back to for myself is this: is it really worth all this effort for \u2018sustainable mediocrity,\u2019 given the amount of personal time and mental well-being that needs to be sacrificed?<\/strong> I don’t know. I wish I had answers. So I keep looking for them in the thoughts and writings of others.<\/p>\n

If you find yourself in a similar spot, take a break, check out these two “long reads” and see if you find some answers:<\/p>\n

Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist<\/em><\/a><\/strong> (Orion Magazine)<\/em>, and<\/p>\n

Hope in the Age of Collapse<\/em><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 (Thoreau Farm Blog)<\/em><\/p>\n

Read on!<\/p>\n

Scott<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Editors note: This piece originally ran as the lead article in the April 14, 2012 NJ Highlands News email newsletter, and is being posted “retroactively” to the blog on August 2, 2012, since it did not post as intended at the time it was written. With apologies for that oversight.]<\/p>\n

I’m straying a little from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[26,174,110],"tags":[176,177,175,179,178],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2nL7w-bs","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.northbyram.org\/highlands\/newsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.northbyram.org\/highlands\/newsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.northbyram.org\/highlands\/newsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.northbyram.org\/highlands\/newsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.northbyram.org\/highlands\/newsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=710"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.northbyram.org\/highlands\/newsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":718,"href":"http:\/\/www.northbyram.org\/highlands\/newsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710\/revisions\/718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.northbyram.org\/highlands\/newsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.northbyram.org\/highlands\/newsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.northbyram.org\/highlands\/newsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}