Environmentalist, role

Harmsen [4] points out that there are several views with which one can look at sustainable development. One view is the theocratic view, prominent in Judeo-Christian religion in which the Creator stands central and needs to be honored and served by man. Nature is trusted to man, who should take care of it, while Technology should help him and simplify his task. Man assumes this responsibility, much as a steward of property and capital does. This is the same role as the one many responsible company directors play The interest of the company should be served and is central in one s performance and behavior toward the company. This view is to some extent expressed in a moving way by the text on the statue of the Japanese-American environmentalist Yasui Minoru in Denver s Sakura Center "We are all put on this earth to leave it a better place for our having been there."... 

Oddly missing from the official celebration by the environmentalists and company officials was any mention of the fact that 26,000 homes as well as hotels, condos, golf courses, and an industrial center were still going to be plopped in the midst of the wilderness that was being celebrated. Nor was the fact that local activists for the Sierra Club, who actually lived near the area slated for development and adamantly opposed it, had been excluded from the process and the press conference. They were forced to resign from leadership roles in the local Sierra Club chapter so they could continue to voice opposition to the development. Now the Center for Biological Diversity is their last hope. 

Several Russian writers with a nationalist/populist/environmentalist orientation also played an important role opposing the river diversion projects, both European and Siberian (Darst, 1988). These writers saw the water transfer projects as a threat not only to the character and integrity of the environment of northern European Russia and Western Siberian, but to traditional culture and village life in these regions. They opposed sending precious Siberian water to Central Asia where, in their view, it would only be wasted. Their writings often had racist overtones toward the indigenous Central Asian populations. 

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