The U.S. Environmental Movement: Crisis or Transition?

We address the debate surrounding the current status of the U.S. environmental movement. Using measures of ecological and public policy impact, we show that the U.S. environmental movement has failed to prevent the continuing negative growth of the U.S. ecological footprint and, since the early 1990s, has been blocked in its national legislative agenda. We trace this failure to the dominance within the U.S. environmental movement of a piecemeal technicist discourse, the diversion of resources due to oligarchic structures and an overemphasis on professionalization within the movement, and the rise of a powerful anti-environmental movement centered in the neo-conservative movement and the religious right. We conclude with recommendations about how to revitalize the environmental movement by making it more participatory and responsive to a broader political vision.