The Green Movement Fails

Broz

WI the ecology and enviromentalism movements fail before the end of the 1970is, and all their OTL achievements are lost?
 

richie42

Lets just say something like no Silent Spring, that really created a "new Green" movement. Whereas it was previously based on preserving natural beauty, Carson, really created a "save the species'" movement. I think that this would have been mmore reasonable.
 

carlton_bach

I don't think that's feasible. The ecological crises were real and no democratic political system could, in the long run, get away without a coordinated response to them, so there was bound to be some sort of ecological/environmental movement. Of course it need not be a grass roots movement, and it need not be wedded to left-wing positions or alternative lifestyles (that was largely an accident of history anyway).

If you want an idea what the world without environmental legislation would look like, check out Leunawerk, SDAG Wismuth, Schweizerhalle, Baia Mare, acid rain and the 1952 "Great Smog".
 

Astrodragon

The Green movements have claimed a lot of successes that really have nothing to do with them except make them feel important.

Look at the clean air legislation in the UK in the 50's, for example - governments do act when things get too bad, the issue is at what point do they consider the cleanup worth the money.
Remember that a government also likes to be seed to be doing things the public think benefit them (not that they necessarily do, as long as they think they do). So there is a complex tradeof in RL.
Remember also that the government has other issues that agreeing or not agreeing with pollution controls affect.
The current Government implication with the Global Warming frenzy has much more with the desire to have more control and higher taxation than any real desire to fix perceived problems.
 

Expat

Astrodragon said:
The current Government implication with the Global Warming frenzy has much more with the desire to have more control and higher taxation than any real desire to fix perceived problems.
Click to expand...


While your last statement seems more of a personal outlook than historical analysis, that is exactly where the green movement has had an effect. While some (present company included it seems) decry rising costs of environmental protection, the fact that it can be considered at all is due to the fact that many others recognize the need for rising costs due to their perception that the alternative will cost more.

It's a passive role for a movement, sitting back and paying out rather than marching on city hall and demanding change, but it's probably more important.

The perceived nature of the crisis is of an interconnected system of interconnected systems. The more systems you can rope in at one go, the more likely you are to have an effect on things. Therefore effort made at the national and international level (with pressure from green lobbies) will always have more success than relying on ballot initiatives and petitions.

Without the public support for a green movement, some things probably would still get done out of blatant necessity, but not nearly as much. People have to be willing to accept change, and it's that mindset that the green movement has instilled in a sufficient percentage of the people to make that change possible.


But just another point so this is somewhat more about alt hist than just poly sci, I think the "War on Science/War on God" dichotomy might not develop. Environmentalism vs Capitalism was a key oppositional in the formation of a recognizable front. Without that connection, we'd still see the morality patrol and the rise of the Christian Right, but a lot of the dogma the Left could muster came from stewardship and focusing on this world instead of the next.

So less of a coherent response from the Left might mean an easier rise for the Christian Right, but there's also less perceived opposition for them to push against and less call for them to rally the faithful to their banner.

Maybe Reagan-style pro-business nationalism sticks around longer and religion doesn't differentiate.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top