In the newly published The Last Refuge: Patriotism, Politics,
and the Environment in an Age of Terror (Island Press), David
Orr aims to reframe the U.S. environmental movement in the
post-9/11 landscape. He is concise, lucid, and angry about the
Bush administration's refusal to act on "the connections between
real security, prosperity, climate stability, environmental
protection, and fairness." Orr advocates for a redefinition of
"living well" to include living within the world's natural
means.
Environmentalists and other progressives, many forced into a
reactive, 'emergency' mode by the Bush administration, may find
Orr's ideas useful for putting their work into a larger, more
hopeful context.
Orr offers inspiration for thinking the big thoughts that
sustain political and social change. While some of these are
certain to provoke controversy, they enrich the public
conversation about where to take the movement.
Orr takes special aim at the scientific dishonesty of Bjorn
Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist -- a favorite
read of Vice President Dick Cheney and The Economist magazine.
He argues that the libertarian, "go it alone" strains in
American culture have outlived their usefulness in a world where
pollutants flow across national boundaries.
Orr describes the "Great Work" of our time: the transition from
fossil fuel to renewable energy resources; from extractive to
regenerative economies; from social and economic inequity to
fairness for all peoples; from violence to nonviolence. He
considers this the true patriotism. Many activists will likely
be eager to reclaim that much-abused term for their own.
Progressives will find grist for debate in The Last Refuge.
Orr's enthusiasm for a "global spiritual revolution" may make
secular readers uneasy. And he eschews deep examination of the
transformative potential of new communication and green
technologies.
Most likely to prompt discussion will be Orr's overall
anti-urban bias, best expressed in his celebration of writer
Wendell Berry's agrarian ideals. Such a bias is no longer
considered realistic or useful by many greens. Megacity living
is not for everyone, but as his fellow environmental
philosopher, New York University professor Andrew Light recently
noted, "residents of New York consume less energy per capita
than any other Americans and so make less of a contribution to
some of our most critical problems, such as the production of
greenhouse gases... [U]rban density is a key to sustainability."
[1]
Orr's ultimate frustration is that we -- the collective 'we'--
can and should do better: at sustainability, economic equity,
basic fairness and respect for all life. Both comforting and
controversial, The Last Refuge may be a touchstone for
articulating a larger vision.
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SOURCES:
[1] "Trip the Light Fantastic: Andrew Light, an enviro-academic,
answers Grist's questions," Grist Magazine, Jul. 26, 2004.
