DON'T BE FOOLED!

Only after the last tree has been cut down,
only after the last river has been poisoned,
only after the last fish has been caught,
only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten.
--The Cree People

Big Business is terrified of the environmental movement, which remains the single most popular left-wing movement in the US. The dirty secret of Big Business is that it is principally responsible for pollution and environmental degradation around the world. The majority of Americans want a safer, cleaner environment.

They know that, and have taken extensive countermeasures to protect themselves from the people at large, including pouring money into bogus environmental groups designed to further industry causes while appearing to be environmentally conscious. They also launch massive PR campaigns to paint themselves green.

These anti-environmental initiatives are, in essence, efforts to thwart democracy.

It's important to note that the only green behind these efforts is money, not concern for the environment. These groups are very well-financed, backed, as they are, by corporations and other capitalist interests. What they lack in public support, they make up for in resources and powerful connections.

Going over the list, you can see the copious use of buzzwords by the anti-environmental movement, as they strive to create the appearance of a broad mandate and public support. However, these groups are funded and controlled by economic and political elites, with a vested (financial) interest in thwarting and reversing environmental reforms.

The following is excerpted from The Greenpeace Guide to Anti-Environmental Organizations, put out by the excellent Odonian Press, Box 32375, Tucson, AZ 85751, and is part of their Real Story series

TACTICS

SIX TYPES OF ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS

Most industries will rely on a combination of the following to undermine and roll back environmental reforms, lavishly spending money on campaigns to secure their financial gain at our expense!

Of these, the misnamed "Wise Use" and "Share" groups need the most explanation. This anti-environmental movement is mostly a western phenomenon where timber, mining, ranching, chemical, and recreation companies banded together to fight the environmental movement. Ron Arnold, the movement's founder, is a self-described reformed environmentalist, one who has "seen the light". As he puts it:

"We want to be able to exploit the environment for private gain, absolutely."

Makes you wonder what kind of environmentalist he must have been, with an attitude like that!

"Wise Use" and "Share" (Canadian version of "Wise Use") act basically as stormtroopers for industry, because, according to Arnold, the "Wise Use" movement can "do things the industry can't. It can stress the sanctity of the family, the virtue of the close-knit community. And it can turn the public against your enemies."

Wiseguys are recruited from the ranks of workers at company meetings (typically compulsory meetings, by the way), and through door-to-door canvassers claiming environmentalists are responsible for unemployment.

Here you see a classic tactic of capitalists, turning the working class against itself when they should be fighting their common enemies, the capitalists themselves! News flash, folks -- capitalists cause unemployment, environmentalists don't!

What the wiseguys want was hammered out in their 1988 conference in Reno, Nevada, where they created a 25 point platform cementing their goal to destroy the environmental movement. Below are eight of their "lofty" goals:

Looking at these, one wonders where the "Wise Use" comes in! Far from being populists, these wiseguys are snugly in the vest pockets of their capitalist employers. They are what you'd call "ruling class heroes," I suppose, making the world safe for wealth, power, and privilege -- and they even get paid for their effort!

ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS

Capitalism can no more be 'persuaded' to limit growth than a human being can be 'persuaded' to stop breathing. Attempts to 'green' capitalism, to make it 'ecological', are doomed by the very nature of the system as a system of endless growth. --Murray Bookchin

As you go through these groups, it's important to note a few things:

Doublespeak is rampant as the industry seeks to mislead, confuse, and otherwise befuddle citizens into accepting anti-environmental stances without realizing the full implications of their decisions. It's reflected in the names these organizations -- take the Sea Lion Defense Fund, for example, which is responsible for depleting the sea lion's principal food supply, pollock, for industry gain.

These are not popular organizations, meaning enjoying broad social support -- rather, they are extremely well-funded, tightly organized groups representing the interests of a very wealthy elite in our society. The only trump card they have in our society is their enormous wealth, which they put to effective use in the creation of these front groups. It's easy to become a defender of wealth, property, and privilege -- it's a prestigious, well-paying line of work with many famous names and faces behind it. All you have to sacrifice is your good sense, honor, and integrity, and you're well on your way to becoming a catspaw for Capital.

And that's the most important thing to remember: industry has a vested interest, a financial interest, in forwarding a viewpoint that will bring their investors the highest profit, so you must take their claims with a heaping spoonful of salt, or risk being completely hoodwinked. This is why they hide behind benevolent-sounding names and words while pushing hurtful agendas -- they seek to push themselves away from the reality that they're simply out to make money. That's what industry groups are all about -- working to ensure that their masters make more money, which, for these anti-environmental groups, means at the expense of our health and that of the environment.

That's the key difference between these propaganda organs and nonprofit organizations -- these people are paid to defend their employers, whether the timber, automobile, mining, or nuclear industries, or others. They aren't doing what they're doing out of a concern for social justice -- they are doing what they do because they are paid to do it.

So, look to the source of the information. Corporations work overtime to distance themselves from many of the groups they finance, to create the illusion of objectivity on the part of these front groups -- so you don't know you're being scammed by them. The best propaganda is that which isn't recognized as propaganda!

The other thing that's important to note is that the right wing love to invoke the image of the lobbyist in loafers walking the corridors of power, peddling influence and subverting "democracy." What these pawns for Capital don't want you to do is look too closely at who these lobbyists represent -- that's because Big Business keeps the lobbying industry alive and well. Lobbyists don't simply come out of the woodwork, folks -- they are employed to represent their clients' financial interests. As the saying goes, it takes money to make money. Lobbying requires significant money -- how many of you have a lobbyist representing you in DC? Look at how many of these anti-environmental groups have DC addresses, and think about that the next time some right-wing clown waxes rhetorical about lobbyists in the capital!

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