John Berlau Environmentalism

When you see a litterbug throw the rest of their half-eaten lunch on the ground or dispose of a cigarette out their Hummer window, you might be disgusted by the fact that, that someone negatively impacts the environment. Most human beings know that our negative actions towards the environment have a ripple effect like a drop in the ocean. However, not everyone cares or sees the impact that we all individually have on the earth. In the essay, Our Unhealthy Future Under Environmentalism, John Berlau, an American economist, debates that conserving and preserving our environment is unnecessary and environmentalist should chill out with this save the planet bull crap. This essay comes directly from Berlau’s book called, Eco-Freaks: Environmentalism

Berlau also mentions how McDonalds symbolizes America. The authors audience is American environmentalist. Berlau discusses posthumous Americans like Teddy Roosevelt and Johnny Appleseed. In addition to, he writes, “The Native Americans left footprints when through their burning of nature, they created the Great Plains” (784). These subjects of Native Americans and posthumous protagonists imply that you have a predisposed knowledge of who they are. Consequently, the author’s targets his essay at American environmentalists. Berlau aims his work at the environmentalists who believe in global warming and preserving the environment. He tried to get the American environmentalist to see the juxtaposing view when he states that we allow animals to destroy the environment but, shun humans that do. Berlau claims, “It’s perfectly fine with greens [environmentalist] when elephants knock down trees with their trunks… just not when humans do it” (783). Berlau is upset that animals destroy the environment without repercussion, but conversely, humans can’t. Berlau fails to bring up the point that when humans do destroy the environment, we drive animals out of their natural habitat. The purpose of Berlau’s essay is to convince American environmentalists that God created this Earth to satisfy our needs and we should use the environment any way we please to satisfy our