Flack Attack PR Watch has never shied away from controversy, and our second quarter 1999 issue was no exception. Their letters appear in this issue. Given the sharp-tongued nature of this exchange, it is important to point out that both Beder and Greenpeace have a long track record of activism in defense of the environment. The issues at stake in this debate are serious and deserve careful scrutiny. As PR Watch has often revealed, the environmental movement is suffering under a two-pronged attack from chemical, genetic engineering, mining and other interests threatened by environmental reform.
Most environmental activists are unpaid volunteers.
Those that are employed by environmental groups, with a few exceptions, earn much less than they could working for big business. However, some green leaders have found that they can profit handsomely in the corporate world by trading on their knowledge, connections and environmentalist reputations. As this century closes, the green movement is definitely floundering, not because public support is lacking or ecological crises are solved, but because corporations have learned how to tame and turn aside fundamental environmental reforms. As Mark Dowie argued in his 1995 book, Losing Ground, the green movement needs to examine and criticize itself, or it will become merely a clever marketing hook and even less relevant to the problems we face in the 21st century.