Making environmentalism palatable to social conservatives

| Gristmill: The environmental news blog | Grist Magazine:

An important article as we think about selling the green message in a clearly conservative USA-dominated world. In fact, come to think of it, this is a point worth bearing in mind in the UK too. Except that the religious profile thing needs looking at. Clearly making links with Christian thinking won't make much of a difference in Britain as a whole. Though it needs to be part of the marketting pitch of the green movement. We need to make the pithc in terms of quality of life and a world for grandchildren and our own old age....

"So we need to broaden that cultural profile. That means, among other things, talking about religion and about God, and about protecting the environment as a way of honoring God's creation, and about environmental justice as a way of protecting 'the least among us.' It means reaching out to hunters, fishers, and other traditionally conservative outdoorsy types in the West, and respecting the connection to nature they have forged. It means talking about ranching and agriculture in a respectful way, discussing sustainable farming and grazing techniques as a way of saving farms and communities in the Midwest, saving the little guy who's being swamped by Big Ag. It means talking about environmentalism as a traditional value, a connection to family and heritage, a connection to national security, an expression of hard work, honesty, and integrity.

It means offering cultural inroads into the movement that don't require buying into the idea that we're all connected and opening our hearts to peace and love and Gaia and moving on to the next stage of evolution and aligning our chi are required to preserve the environment. I have no beef with new agey types, but fruity doesn't sell in red states."

Of course the wierd thing is Republicans are 'red' ...