ABSTRACT
ENVIRONMENTALISTS HAVE BEEN among the most effective political moralists in American politics over the past quarter century. To be green is to be a moralizer. The phrase “environmental ethics” makes immediate sense in a way that is much more at the core of the green movement 1 than are, say, feminist ethics or labor ethics. The green ethos takes a specific form; greens believe that nature tells them to behave in particular ways. From a strategic perspective, this moralizing generally has been effective. It unifies the movement, pushes debate to a principled level generally perceived as “higher,” and helps greens avoid the ideological infighting that has long plagued other social movements. But the moralizing does not come without attendant problems.
