Why? Because it looks cool? I'm all for keeping Earth clean, but many environmentalists make it a threat. "Clean the Earth or else" is not the message I want to hear wherever I go. I'm not going to light coal on fire in my backyard for fun, but I want to be able to drive a car without having to get the shame finger (or "The Finger" in general) from some eco-nut.

In 1992 a group of nobel prize winners met in Brazil to discuss environmental issues. Their conclusion: If we keep up our current rate of consumption, we will have caused IRRERSIBLE damage by the year 2022. So basically we have 13 years to get off the planet.
The problem is that most tactics people use to save the world end up backfiring.

Buying Organic food is not only more unhealthy for people, but it is environmentally unsound to truck it 2000 miles across the country. Organic farming has become Big Business, it's not just for hippies anymore.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15158675/

Recycling requires more trucks, crews and people to oversee it all. So instead of having just ONE fume-belching garbage truck at every house- we now have two.
Also, re-using something is not always better than just tossing it away. A chemist at the University of Victoria calculated that you would need to use a ceramic mug 1,000 times before you would see benefits over using disposable polystyrene cups for those 1,000 cups of coffee. This is because it takes far more energy to make that mug and takes energy and water to wash it after each use.
http://www.ecoworld.com/features/2003/11/15/recycli ng-myths/

Buying carbon offsets is just plain silly. You're buying a promise from someone else that they are going to reduce their own carbon emissions by a certain amount. The trouble is that currently there is no standard or authority that monitors the offsets.

Investigations found that often, people buying offsets have bought worthless promises. Even when the company offering the offset follows through, there still might not be any additional benefit because the company who took your credits was already planning to reduce its emissions anyway.
Take, for example, the company that sold carbon offsets based on a plan to reduce methane gas at a landfill. It sounded great until investigations revealed that the methane reduction plan was in place long before the offsets were sold. That part of the plan is all well and good, but it completely destroys the whole concept of buying and selling carbon offsets. Nothing was being "offset."

Man, if we can't trust a painless "something for nothing" scheme to save the world, what can we trust?
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_13/ b4027057.htm
http://www.nature.com/climate/2007/0711/full/climat e.2007.58.html

It seems that since the movie "An Inconvient Truth" came out being green became a fad. The problem with fads is that they die out. True environmentalism is not something you want to go out of style.
Environmentalism is good, but only when you pull your own head out of your ass long enough to do it correctly and not just follow some fad. So go Green, but be smart about it is what I am trying to say.

5 stars for conservationists, ala Teddy Roosevelt...but that is not what this item says.
Everyone wants clean air, clean water, etc. The enviro-wacko movement is an entirely different kettle of fish (or I should say BS)

People can get really flaky on this issue. Recently, in Spokane,Washington droves of residents drove over the border to Idaho to buy traditional Cascade for Automatic Dishwashers as the type sold in Spokane was "environmentally friendly" but did not clean dishes well. Therefore a lot of gasoline was wasted that otherwise would not be.

Ethanol is another case of lunacy here too. Ethanol contains only two thirds the energy per gallon of gasoline, and taxpayers are also hit with a 51 cent a gallon subsidy too.
Ethanol burns hotter, and is not good for air cooled engines. You'd think that the politicians that claim to care about Global Warming would not want a fuel that burns hotter than gasoline. But the environmentalists have sold them a bill of goods on ethanol.
Ethanol fires are also dangerous and have to be put out with a special foam.

Ignore important environmental concerns at your own risk. Most science indicates people do not have many more eons anyway.

I could do more. . .it's so tough and expensive. And I'm quite the entitled American. . .

We do need to learn the three R's...........INCLUDING recycle........ how much harder is it, to recycle your glass, your cans, your papers..... instead of being lazy....... saves the planet!!

Is way exaggerated these days. Just ask Al Gore as soon as he gets of his private jet.

Again, this is another issue like with PETA. There are the extreme activists that would have you walking everywhere and using recyclable cardboard for toilet paper. What I'm saying is we need a balance. Don't litter, try to recycle, use cloth grocery bags if you can, etc. Just do what you can, but don't bend over backwards and spend your life completely obsessed with not driving a car or drinking bottled water.

Nothing wrong with it as long as politics are left out.

I'm all for taking Al Gore up to the Artic and leaving him on a shrinking ice flow to either freeze, drown or be eaten by a polar bear so that the discussion can return to actual issues of the sustainability of unbridled, exponential expansion of human desecration of the environment.  Clearly Al has become the problem.

enviornmentalism could be a very good thing...but sometimes it's the people that run these groups and put certain regulations on the stupidest things that stops some people from joining to help the enviornment and taking the steps needed to make big changes to help our world...I agree with some things, but some are just over the top and I avoid mixing up in these groups and supporting their "good reasons" because they seem insane about saving the "fairy shrimp"

I believe the faster we start caring about our enviroment, the more we can salvage of this planet.

I basically agree with trebon1038 . We need to have respect for the earth. However the earth has been in a constant state of climate change long before man showed up at the party, and it is debatable how much effect man has on this change. We need to take care of mother earth, but I believe there are extreme views on both sides of this issue. Personally I believe the truth is somewhere in the middle.

hell yes Seattle liberal right here

We need the earth so I approve.

We need to save the environment for our children and their children, but unfortunately, it can be very costly.

we should care more for this planet regardless of how real global warming is. It's like taking a shit on your mother's coffee table- let's have some respect people!

we should all be aware of our "foot print" without going crazy on the rest of the world. Baby Steps folks! Screaming shuts people down it does not make them listen!

It gets this rating because of wackos! Conservation and renewable energy are good, but we have change over gradually so our country doesn't suffer.

If we all don't start comprehending what we've done to our country alone - and what more can damage it - then I believe it's very possible within our lifetime we'll see the end result. it won't be just one more thing left for our "children" or their children to deal with

You need to be aware of your surroundings...plain and simple...and do your part...its the only earth we have...

As defined above, environmentalism is helpful to society.  Why not try to care for our physical planet?  After all, it's only a life or death decision somewhere down the line.  It's a shame that it has been politicized.  Some conservatives are so reactionary that seeing Al Gore's name associated with it causes them to condemn and/or disbelieve it.  It only shows how little progress the human animal has made in evolving to higher intelligence.  It's pretty self-apparent that conservation and improvement of the natural environment is a good thing.  But then, I often think that reactionaries live in their own little world, one that's entirely different from mine.

can be very helpful to educate people on our environment....however....the fanatics like in anything else, usually do more harm than good fir the cause

Mostly pissing in the wind with their ideals.

It's helpful effects are the direct inverse of the effects of anti-environmentalism. Meaning, there's probably not a lot of money in it. But give it time.

some of these groups can be a bit extreme, and i feel that there should be some one keeping an eye on our environment cause we as humans are destroying our resource because we are a wasteful society

Nothing wrong with wanting clean air and clean water and safe food to eat, but too many turn it into a religion and too many use it as an excuse for a political tool. Speaking of tools...Al Gore is that you? Mr. fly around in your private jets and drive around in your SUV's leaving carbon footprints everywhere!!! You hypocrite!!! Mr. 10,000 electric bills and then gonna try to tell me to conserve???

Some of these crazies don't know what they are talking about, and even recycling some of your items end up right in the dump.

While I'm by no means in agreement with, or believe in, every issue or tactic that environmentalists bring up, I think that the principle of environmentalism is, on balance, a healthy thing.  It certainly can't hurt to ask questions, rather than blindly accepting assumptions.

go green!

MAKES U THINK TWICE BEFORE THROWING THAT TOXIC WASTE INTO THE BEAUTIFUL LAKE...BUT WHERE ELSE CAN U PUT IT?

It has been taken way to fucking far!!

Everything IN MODERATION

Environmentalism is a good thing as we are all supposed to benefit from it. But when it becomes a political issue is damaging and is manipulated beyond its purpose.

if everyone would just "go green" I think the world we be an even more beutiful place and it would stay that way.

This is our only place to live. Let's not Fuck it up!

great idea.........the doing sucks ass

I love the environment

When environmentalists turn into complete tree huggers and they begin to block some things that don't need to be blocked, they do harm.

As our population grows, it would behoove us to be more cognizant of the effect we are having on the environment around us and take steps to co-exist with nature. On the other hand, I feel that Environmentalists need not be so rigid in finding compromises to not impede progress as well!

NO COMMENT, REALLY

I dont like isms and labels but I am deeply concerned at the rapid way that species are heading towards extinction, pollution in the air and the seas, the destruction of the forests, the rising sea levels, the increasing frequency of droughts, floods, destructive winds and the spreading of the deserts. To those people who dont think these things arent happening but that it's just some green conspiracy to rip off consumers, just get your head out of the sand and look around. The future of the human race is dependent on the health of the world's ecology and right now the outlook is bleak. If there are people who think the human race can blithely continue to strip the world of its resources like a swarm of locusts without any serious repercussions they're sadly deluded

UPDATE:  edited for clarity of meaning.

[ponders, yet again, "does the butterfly effect apply only to known bad things, or does it exclude things that SEEMED good at the time that ended up being horribly, horribly wrong?..."] 

If the enviros were not afflicted with the junk science hucksters, animal worshippers, mindless tree huggers and more, it would have a much higher rating.  Good, clear science in this area is absolutely necessary and leads to a liveable world.

if we dont start looking after mother earth she may not be so hospitable to us in her household.

People who denounce those who are concerned about the environment as "left-wing nuts" are hopelessly ignorant.ANYONE who has a few brain cells to rub tohether can appreciate the fact that humans and in fact ALL life on earth are in dire straits without safe drinking water,clean air and other things essential to life and health that are being systematically destroyed right under our noses.You don't have to remain in the dark,or take my word for it.There is ample information on an astounding number of concerns we should all be sharing.Find out about Mercury in the groundwater,pesticides,genetically engineered foods,hormones in meat and milk (as well as blood and pus,because the Cows are given bovine growth hormone which causes their udders to become so distended that they rupture and ooze with infections).Antibiotics in our food that cause viruses to mutate into more and more virulent forms,etc.IT"S NOT PRETTY,FOLKS-and if "terrorists" were putting these items in our bodies everyone would have a FIT-but since it's just corporations and the bought off FDA,it is apparently hunky-dorey.Worried about the "Bird-Flu"? This stuff is already here-and has been for quite some time-but instead of concern for our well being those currently in authority are doing all they can to WEAKEN those very laws that protect citizens and consumers from the negligent and despicable practices that threaten the health of every man,woman child and puppy dog on the Planet.Why am I a "tree hugger"? Because Trees help clean our air and prevent soil erosion.Because they are beautiful and fun to climb.Because I want a better world left for all of the wonderful kids in my life and for that matter each and every one of you who read this.I'll get off my soapbox now.Thanks.

To be fair, the basic values of environmentalism are not all that unreasonable and I don't think many of us would enjoy a world where corporations are allowed to operate free of any environmental restrictions. Radical environmentalism, like so many other extremes, has proven to be harmful. One blazing example is the environmentalist indifference to rising gas prices. Yes, we should be advancing the technology to make "earth-friendly" vehicles easily purchased. But what we shouldn't do is to bank on the future and ignore our own natural resourses- including ANWR. In these cases, radical environmentalists seem to be more compassionate to caribou than Americans who need to drive to work every day to make a living.

Environmentalism can be a good thing as long as it doesnt turn into pantheism.

Yeah crazy treehuggers, but consider living in a world with pollution, unclean drinking water etc. The less extreme of this bunch are the best.