ELF gives the environmental movement a bad name!

Today's Blogiversary Giveaway is Diane MacEachern's new book, Big Green Purse. Running a website by the same name, MacEachern takes a common sense approach to teaching women the power of their purchasing decisions as the main spenders in a household. I will be reviewing the book later, but I haven't gotten to read as far into it as I'd like yet. So far, I like it, though. As per the rest of the week, you have to comment to win!

Reading the news today that five multi-million-dollar homes in Seattle were torched, presumably by the Earth Liberation Front, with a note left behind signed, "ELF", made me sad and furious at once. Burning buildings (complete with greenhouse gas emissions, particulate matter pollution, and wasted water) under the pretense of saving the environment is akin to killing an abortion doctor to save lives. Actually, it's more ridiculous, since a large part of the environmental damage attributed to the building has already happened.

I want to tell these people to get a grip on themselves and on reality. They are not making a point (at least not the point they want to make).

(On the other hand, the Justice Department calls them "domestic terrorists?" You mean like Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 and injured 800+ people in Oklahoma City in 1995? Or Ted Kaczynski, who killed three and injured twenty-three? ELF goes to great pains to make certain that no life is taken or physically harmed during their arson attacks. Come on. I hardly think they compare to the aforementioned domestic terrorists.)

Comments

[Pistol Pete]

The poet/novelist/essayist Wendell Berry has a great collection of essays called, "Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community: Eight Essays". He contends the best chance we have to reverse the trend of destroying the environment is to be better stewards with our resources. He particularly advocates a form of protest called "sales resistence". Check it out.

[Kaitlin M]

What a backwards way of trying to create change. What's worse is, obviously these multi-million dollar homes are just going to be rebuilt anyway.

[RedMolly]

The Oregonian, at least, has stopped calling ELF members "eco-terrorists" in favor of "eco-saboteurs," which I think is rather more accurate. Regardless, chopping stuff up and setting stuff on fire to make a political point is a totally douchebag tactic.

[Blue Like the Sky]

David Frohnmayer wrote an essay, "The New Tribalism," which describes the tipping point between single issue politics (good) and divisive, all-or-nothing monomania (bad). This is a textbook case.

[Lori V.]

I'll have to look for that, PPete. Thanks.

[Lori V.]

Hi, Kaitlin! You make a very valid point.

What also makes me angry is that these homes were built using some green practices. They just weren't green ENOUGH to make the ELF happy. At least the builders incorporated SOME green components into the homes.

[Patrick]

Since sitting in a circle and talking is your choice
then let us ask Earth what she has to say about the "Dream" homes.
Hmmmm. Nothing to say, Earth? Many rape victims behave as such.

[Lori V.]

Patrick, better yet, why don't we ask Mother Earth how she feels about the air pollution caused by the burning of these homes, the insurance money that will be awarded to the builder, and the homes that will be built in their place? Now that the builder has been figuratively AND literally burned by the environmental movement, what incentive does he now have to rebuild the homes a different way? If anything, he may be dissuaded from doing anything green at all. Congratulations on nothing but the media coverage. Are they trying for attention or for awareness? With tactics like the ELF employs, it's one step forward and two steps back.