Response 1

Mazmanian and Kraft create an interesting perspective through their three epochs of the environmental movement. While looking at the chart (pg 8-10), one notices the immense changes from movement to movement. The first part is heavy handed and there are definite rights and wrongs—“bad guys” are identified and actions are taken. This is heavily contrasted by today’s focus to change ethics and lifestyles, and work in collaborations to change the world and save the environment. There is a much less clear image of what needs to be done and. Additionally, as noted, each epoch builds on the next, so that the issues that are never fully resolved are passed down. They are no longer pressing news to be dealt with immediately. The tables have turned and no longer is there the worry about merely the here and now, but also (and mainly) sustainability for the future and how to address issues in the long term. This is a much more difficult task to take on that I do not see the authors recognizing.

While it is difficult to determine from merely this introduction, there seems to be a definite lack of acknowledgment of this issue. While each epoch had its own dilemmas, there is something especially daunting about taking on the responsibility of future generations and turning around the past decades of environmental intolerance. There is no more urgency as there was in the 70s where water and air quality affected most individuals. The clear-cut issues have been (moderately) dealt with and it is now the more easily avoidable issues that need to be dealt with. Examples given of events in this past epoch include Hurricane Katrina and the Kyoto Protocol. Many Americans still believe that Katrina was entirely an unavoidable occurrence and anthropogenic factors on climate change have nothing to do with it. In fact, so many Americans and elected officials do not recognize climate change that the Kyoto Protocol was not even ratified in this country.

Perhaps the greatest defining factor for the third epoch is this denial. This has greatly been shaped by both historical and social events throughout the three epochs that also deserve notice. Environmental Studies is an extremely interdisciplinary study and while policy and politics plays a large role, it cannot be completely understood without also shedding light onto critical social and historical issues.

Kraft and Mazmanian are off to a good start here—they have identified key differences between the three stages and have listed main policies that have been defining legislation for each. To carry on the discussion and to fully grasp what has been done, why, and how to act for the future, however, they must take the next step and include a social and historical context for environmentalism.