ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that even though the great majority of American environmentalists cannot be described as ecofascist, there are legitimate reasons to be concerned about the possible emergence of something like ecofascism in years to come. It considers the charge that current wetlands regulations constitute ecofascism, it now turns to Schoenichen's justification of analogous measures, including those specified in the Nazi Nature Protection Law. The similarities between Schoenichen's ecosophy and contemporary environmentalism may prove disturbing in view of the following fact: he explicitly portrayed his ecosophy as consistent with the Blut und Boden racist ideology of National Socialism. Both American environmentalism and German nature protection were fueled first by public health threats posed by urban wastes and industrial pollution, and second by scientific claims that the practices of industrial civilization were destabilizing the 'balance of nature'. In addition, a certain nature-romanticism bordering on pantheism provides other parallels between the two movements.
