Who's Not Your Typical Environmentalist?

I'd point to a non-typical environmentalist as being someone who sees environmentalism in their tradtional, older values, not just in the current science of ecology. My cousins who, hard core Republicans that they are, fought Wal-Mart from coming to their idyllic Utah mountain town would be a great example. They would never consider themselves to be environmentalists but they hated the cultural and business impact they knew Wal-Mart would bring. They preferred to preserve what they had.

Sadly, they lost by a handful of votes.

A recent poll Treehugger linked to found that less and less Americans use the word "environmentalist" to describe themselves, yet support for environmental goals seems to be growing. That's one of the reasons I love the word Conservationist. After all, that's what we are trying to do, to conserve and preserve the delicate feedback loops of nature from the ravages of swift and unthinking change.

[great comment thanks mjo]

The US Air Force
Largest Solar project in US, synfuel in aircraft, biofuels in vehicles, wind power on bases. Finally a gov agency that gets it and who would have ever guessed it would be the Air Force.

I don't think the word "environmentalist" can really be used to describe T. Boone Pickens. He's an economist. It just so happens that the time has come where economic solutions can also be better for the environment.

The Property and Environment Research Center was formally the Political Economy Research Center. It is a hardcore right wing group whose only real goal is promoting free market principles. They are certainly not your typical enivronmental group as they are not very concerned about the environment.

It's a bit difficult to make any sense of this post, as you didn't tell us what search string you actually entered into Google.

[typical environmentalist? mjo]

John Muir a "typical environmentalist"? I don't think he was a typical anything. The "ideal" or "prototype" maybe, but hardly typical.. DB

I think the most atypical environmentalists are actually some of the same illegal aliens coming across the border to work in the agricultural fields. Most of them know a whole lot more about sustainable agriculture than many of the rich farmers they work for pennies for.

Uh...T. Boone Pickens is an oilman, not an environmentalist. He's also pushing for a switch to natural gas here in Oklahoma for vehicles as the "cleaner and American" alternative. Not to mention that he's quietly buying up water rights all over the place, presumably with the intention of selling them once "peak-water" comes about.

[perhaps oilmen are the new environmentalists mjo]

George Bush....have you seen his eco-friendly house?

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

I"m bemused that "environmentalist" has come to mean vegan PETA groupie.

Non-typical because he's a bow-hunter and killed a lion once with it.

Wasn't like that when I started getting involved in environmental issues in the late 60s. I was raised that humans are stewards of the land that feeds them. Taking care of the land you hunted on, farmed, was every bit as important as taking care of your gun. There's a balance in nature that includes predators like humans and an intelligent person with real experience in the real world knows that failing to play our role as predators damages the environment as much as pollution.

When did the environmental movement become a bunch of rich city folk in designer clothes driving Land Rovers and eating imported food?

[ah pooh bear, you are a kindred spirit mjo]

How about the Institute for Justice? While expressly libertarian rather than environmentalist, they are among the strongest advocates for homeowners at risk of having their homes taken under imminent domain and replaced with high-rise condos and shopping centers.