Is environmentalism moving away from global warming?

examiner.com

By Brandon Lighton  24 May 2010

As the headline on today's Drudge Report suggests, the environmentalist movement may be shifting away from global warming as the justification for their proposed restrictions on the free market. Per the Guardian: "The economic case for global action to stop the destruction of the natural world is even more powerful than the argument for tackling climate change, a major report for the United Nations will declare this summer." The report is also expected to focus on protecting species as a greater reason for environmental legislation.

Of course, a skeptic might point out that this shift in justifications was necessitated by the collapsing scientific argument for global warming following the East Anglia University email scandal earlier this year. A skeptic might also point out that if you have to constantly change the justification for your policy initiatives because your old reasons keep getting discredited, it might be time to rethink those policies. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time someone has noticed that many so-called environmentalists are motivated more by a religious zeal than by science and facts.