Sierra's November/December 2007 Let's Talk selection: Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility
A book by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger Review by Pat Joseph
What it's about Break Through is a follow-up to the manifesto "The Death of Environmentalism," in which political consultants Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger famously declared that "modern environmentalism, with all of its unexamined assumptions, outdated concepts, and exhausted strategies, must die so that something new can live." The authors' book is an attempt to bolster their diagnosis and flesh out the "something new" they so fervently hope to give rise to.
Where to get it Break Through is widely available at libraries and bookstores.
About the authors
Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger are the founders of the Breakthrough Institute and managing directors of American Environics, an opinion research and political strategy firm. According to the book jacket, the two "have spent their entire careers working for environmental organizations."
Discussion questions
Let's start with the book's title: What kind of breakthrough exactly do the authors envision?
In the introduction, Nordhaus and Shellenberger respond to Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth with four inconvenient truths of their own. What are they?
Nordhaus and Shellenberger write that "the vast majority of environmental strategies aim to constrain rather than unleash human activity." Do you accept their contention?
Nordhaus and Shellenberger insist that to see global warming as a pollution problem is to assign it the wrong conceptual framework. If it's not a pollution problem, what kind of problem is it?
Among the most commonly used terms in the authors' lexicon are "postmaterial" and "pre-political." How would you define them?
While the authors say they generally criticize environmentalism for being too religious, they also believe the movement should operate "more like a church." What do they mean by this?
Nordhaus and Shellenberger write that "liberals and environmentalists have thus tended to be issue-based and complaint-based, while conservatives have tended to be values- and needs-based." Is this an accurate description?
What do the authors mean when they say that theirs is an argument against the "politics of essentialism" and for "a politics of pragmatics"?
In the conclusion, Nordhaus and Shellenberger write, "The crises we face demand not that we wake up to reality but rather that we dream differently." Did they succeed in inspiring you?
Links
Read Nordhaus and Shellenberger's original essay (reprinted here).
Take Action On November 3, activists will be rallying nationwide for the Step It Up protests to demand real action on climate change. Find out how to get involved at sierraclub.org/stepitup.
