The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) burned down houses in a subdivisions known as the “Street of Dreams” in a Seattle, Washington suburb. The “ecoterrorsts”, as labled by the FBI, left a sign which read “Built green? Nope Black!”. This is no doubt a symbolic act but I do find it somewhat off base in the fact that in burning the homes they are releasing tons on of toxic chemicals into the environment and also the homes will most likely be rebuilt using the same non environmental friendly materials so they have more than doubled the impact of those particular homes on the environment. Again the point is to call attention to their cause and to prove a point that McMansions are wasteful and the materials used in producing them harmful. This is not their first time doing something like this So do you think the actions of ELF are helpful or harmful to the cause of environmentalism?
This type of action certainly doesn’t lend any credence to what they are trying to say, and are so extreme that they wouldn’t even be effective at calling attention to their cause, because so many people would be stopped in their tracks by the horror of their tactics.
Don’t get me wrong, I can’t think of any better ways to try to force the issue into public consciousness, save for encouraging people in power to enact new legislation encouraging builders to use environmentally friendly materials and methods and maybe offer incentives for individuals to buy homes which were constructed using said. The political process is notoriously slow, however, especially where changes to big industry are concerned. So I can understand the mindset and the sense of urgency behind the ELF’s actions, but think they are ultimately doing a disservice to themselves and their cause, at least in the public mind, especially in today’s world… Nobody cares what you have to say if they see you as a terrorist, kwim?
~karri