Environmental Politics

In the wake of the defeat of Props. 128 and 130, it is clear that environmental politics must change. The environmental Establishment must reach out and attract to its cause, minorities, labor, religion, medicine, the women’s movement and industries, such as the alternative fuels industries, the tourist, surf and fishing industries, all of which have a vested interest in a clean environment. Such an environmental coalition would have clout.

The opposition to Props. 128 and 130, the oil, pesticide and petrochemical industries, spent in excess of $12 million to defeat the initiatives. This kind of political muscle must be matched and surpassed in the 1990s. Coalition building is the antidote to corporate muscle. Business is an American attribute. The environmental movement of the 1990s must learn to balance and articulate a balance between the environment and the economy. Clearly there is money to be made from recycling, alternatives to pesticides, toxic cleanup, alternative fuels, conservation and the like. And clearly there are times when we as a society will have to pay the price of preserving our lives, i.e., our environment. Restoring and preserving our Earth’s environment must become part of the ordinary course of doing business. We citizens must learn not only to vote for the environment, but we also must learn to do business in an environmentally sensitive way. Subsidies for those put out of business by environmental concerns, along with job retraining, must be supported by the public.

Obviously we have the capacity and technology to heal our environment. What we lack is the understanding of the necessity to do so. Bringing that necessity to life is the challenge which awaits the environmental movement in the 1990s.

ROBERT H. SULNICK, Executive Director, American Oceans Campaign, Santa Monica