The Death of Environmentalism is a good thing. So say goodbye to an outdated political ideology where people live in trees while the rest of the forest is destroyed, where a single species is converted into a political cause, lobbyists and all, and the nation becomes polarized around the false dichotomy of economics and environment. While the old environmentalism was first and foremost a political movement, the new is a way of life and a universal acceptance of very basic, life sustaining principles.

The forces bringing disparate groups towards a common cause are not unfamiliar to anyone living in this world: massive soil erosion, depleted water supplies, contaminated food, unstable energy networks, global warming, and of course, the ideological bankruptcy of our leaders.

As Mark Schmitt notes in a related article, the new environmentalism “starts with individuals redefining citizenship, so that instead of marking themselves off as ‘environmentalists’ or ‘children’s advocates’ or ‘union’ voters’, they see the world the way environmentalists do, as an interconnected system in which global economic trends, corruption, ideology and values, political participation, etc. are all related to the fundamental goal of a just and sustainable society.”

Soon, the union worker, the concerned mother, the hunter, the university activist, and the impoverished Third World farmer will all be speaking the same language, one that is based on conserving local resources through strong community participation. All of these groups will take part in articulating, in the words of Triple Pundit, “a sane, thoughtful, and respectful path toward adressing [sic] the myriad problems – environmental, political, social, military, and cultural – that plague us.”