On the fifty-something anniversary of Earth Day it’s time for the environmental movement to grow up. More accurately, it’s important to admit that we have grown up and grown into the establishment.
Today, environmentalism isn’t some scrappy, radical movement. Environmentalists are no longer banging at the castle walls. They run the castle. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Council on Environmental Quality, a good chunk of the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, elements of the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service… I could go on, but my point is that environmental advocacy is now either the very reason for the existence of these agencies or an important force within them. While some parts of these agencies are there to work with industry, even those must be balanced by environmental advocates who are employees of the agency and embedded there. People move back and forth from environmental groups and think tanks to powerful government agencies all the time.
Sure, Donald Trump is trying to turn back the clock on this, as he is on everything else. But even that tells you something. MAGA is about revolting against The Establishment, against The Man. And environmentalists, these days, are The Man. Or, to put it in terms that won’t be offensive to the Sierra Club, The They.
And yet, the movement mostly clings to its old ways and the romantic perception of itself as it once was. Like petulant children, it refuses to accept realistic compromises — Wisconsin Republicans offered $28 million a year for the state Stewardship Fund, but environmentalists stamped their feet, refused the offer, and got nothing. Like campus activists, it fights dramatic, heroic-feeling, but ultimately doomed and wasteful court battles — like the Line 5 pipeline rerouting which will result in 12 miles of pipeline risk that will be replaced by… 41 miles of pipeline risk. And like an ego-centric teenager, it too often refuses to acknowledge that there are other legitimate interests — like jobs in the fossil fuel industry — that need to be considered.
As people age they tend to become less idealistic. This makes sense. Aging is, in part, your body figuring out how to most efficiently use its energy. Dramatic fights for losing causes might be energizing in the short run, but they’re not a good investment of resources. Working within a system — that by the way you mostly control — and making the necessary compromises that allow for steady, incremental change gets you to your goal much faster. And it leaves room for a nice nap after lunch.
So, that’s my hope for the movement on this Earth Day. Trump will pass and his damage to the castle walls will be repaired in time. The long-term project for environmentalists is to start acting like the responsible establishment they now represent and not the dashing outsiders they once were.
Yellow Stripes & Dead Armadillos 
Methinks you woke up today wearing moss-colored bifocals. The consensus of experts: Several vital earth systems are already failing.
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I think the movement doesn’t ever take credit for its own great successes. Air and water are much cleaner. I have a friend who now travels to Lake Erie because of the fantastic fishery it has become. We have successfully addressed acid rain and the ozone layer, two problems that seemed “existential” not long ago. Bald eagles are now plentiful and we’re worrying about the proliferation of bobcats in our neck of the woods. We are using much less fossil fuels today than we were 20 years ago to support an economy that is much bigger. And “The Population Bomb” didn’t go off. The movement would do well to talk about what we’ve accomplished and how we can address the next set of problems, rather than harping on doom and gloom.
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“The consensus of experts“
“A Consensus Means That Everyone Agrees To Say Collectively What No One Believes Individually.” A. Eban
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This take would have made more sense 50 years ago, when there was actually a bipartisan consensus for environmental protection.
It’s really odd that you would list a bunch of agencies that have been gutted and are now being run by fossil fuel interests as evidence that the environmental movement is the establishment.
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Sure, and I acknowledged that in my piece. My point is that the infrastructure is still there. Trump’s nothing more than a speed bump.
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Where to begin. It is true that there have been many successes since the founding of the first Earth Day. Landmark legislation like the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act did much to clean up the more obvious pollution problems. Through the 60’s and 70’s the Wisconsin DNR was often the national leader in both environmental management and conservation. Yes we were young and we were idealistic but we were also realists who understood that to be effective we would have to work with a variety of interested parties, including state and local government agencies, agricultural interest. and business and industry. The work with the paper industry on the Fox River was an intense negotiation that resulted in the development of innovative waste load allocations. Yes we were idealistic, but we were also clear-eyed professionals. I found that same combination of idealism and professionalism at the USEPA, though often their programs followed WDNR’s lead. The problems we face today are much more complex and intractable. Climate issues are a global problem that cannot be addressed solely at the state or federal level. Meanwhile, the current administration is rolling back enforcement of air and water rules and regulations while monetizing public lands. You are an outdoorsman. The conservation efforts, along with the environmental protections that are so important to hunters and fishermen are being reduced, slowly and incrementally. In Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises, Bill asks ‘How did you go bankrupt? Two ways, Mike replies, gradually and then suddenly.” Jon Grand
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Well, there’s a lot in this piece that reflects how most policy movements evolve once they become part of the governing structure. Environmental policy today isn’t the outsider activism of the 1970s — it’s a mix of regulatory work, scientific assessment, economic tradeoffs, and long‑term planning.
I think the article is right that once a movement becomes institutionalized, it has to operate differently. Agencies like EPA or Interior aren’t monolithic; they’re constantly balancing environmental goals with industry needs, legal constraints, and political shifts. That tension can look messy from the outside, but it’s also how most mature policy areas function.
Where I think the conversation gets interesting is in how to make those institutions more effective — how to encourage pragmatic, incremental progress without losing sight of long‑term environmental and economic realities. That’s less about being ‘the establishment’ and more about navigating complex systems in a way that actually delivers results.
So yes, the movement has changed, and some of the critique is fair. But the underlying work — balancing environmental protection with other legitimate interests — is still complicated, and it’s not as simple as choosing between idealism and compromise
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Maybe reading the poem by Ada Limón “Instructions on Not Giving Up” -Spring, resilience, and a wink at the absurdity of hope.
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