GST 2310: Living in the Environment

THE POLITICS OF ENVIRONMENTALISM

The following organizations are but a few of a vast number of groups that seek to influence political decisions on environmental issues in the United States. For a more complete listing, see Appendix 1 and Appendix 4 of Miller, Environmental Science 8^th ed.

Anti-Environmental Groups	Sponsoring Organizations
Wise-Use Movement: http://www.eskimo.com/~rarnold/wiseuse.html	Coalition of Anti-Environmental Groups
Alliance for America http://www.allianceforamerica.org/	Coalition of Anti-Environment Groups
Nuclear Energy Institute http://www.nei.org/	Nuclear Power Industry
American Council on Science and Health http://www.acsh.org/	Food and Pesticide Industries
Sustainable Forestry Initiative http://www.michiganforestry.com/	Alliance of Forestry Related Industries of Michigan
American Farm Bureau Federation http://www.fb.com/	Agricultural Chemicals Industry
Mountain States Legal Foundation http://www.mountainstateslegal.com/	Founded by James Watt in 1977 and funded by the Coors family. Dedicated to individual liberty, the right to own and use property, limited government and the free enterprise system.
Pro-Environment Organizations	Focus of Activities
Greenpeace http://greenpeaceusa.org	International organization that opposes government/business encroachments.
Nature Conservancy http://nature.org/	Protection of wildlife and wilderness areas
Sierra Club http://sierraclub.org	Protection of national wilderness areas
Natural Resources Defense Council http://www.nrdc.org/	NRDC uses law, science, and the support of more than 400,000 members nationwide to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things
Worldwatch Institute http://www.worldwatch.org	International organization which analyzes global environmental issues; publishes annually “State of the World”
Safe Energy Communication Council http://www.safeenergy.org/	Opposes nuclear power industry
Society of Environmental Journalists http://www.sej.org/index.html	Journalists who write about environmental issues
National Wetlands Conservation Alliance http://users.erols.com/wetlandg/	Private individuals interested in restoring wetlands on their land
Pew Center on Global Climate Change http://www.pewclimate.org/	Focuses on issues related to global warming
Generation Green http://generationgreen.org/	Focuses on consumer-related environmental health issues. Formerly the Citizens Action Group.
LocalMotion http://www.local-motion.org/	A grass-roots local organization dedicated to raising awareness about the connections between environmental toxins and health consequences, including cancer.

Last updated: 26 January 2003