UW Political Science Prof. Aseem Prakash was recently quoted in an article on The Hill regarding US EPA Director Scott Pruitt’s political maneuvering on how to redefine environmentalism.
The article notes Pruitt’s view that the environmental policies of the past have been too restrictive,
I’ve been asking the question lately, what is true environmentalism? What do you consider true environmentalism? And from my perspective, it’s environmental stewardship, not prohibition
Prof. Prakash sees some merit to Pruitt’s approach,
For example, some experts argue that current policies make it difficult to remove brush from forests, which fuels forest fires....
“So in some ways, a puritanical approach to the environment may actually lead to more destruction of the environment, under certain circumstances,” Prakash said, with the caveat that that is an “extremely sympathetic” way to read Pruit
but Prof. Prakash is wary of the motives,
This is not an intellectual argument. I don’t think he is trying to redefine environmentalism at an intellectual level,
This is pandering to a political constituency, and using environmentalism and fossil fuels to fuel polarization
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