The Age of Greenwashing

In: Capitalism, nature, socialism: CNS ; a journal of socialist ecology, Band 7, S. 1-36

Abstract

Discusses the nature & implications of the expanding political- & public relations (PR)-oriented character of environmentalism practiced within corporations & political institutions. It is suggested that the modern media age has positioned PR, not physics or even ecology, as the dominant scientific paradigm of the last decade. Corporate environmental positioning has become a vital component of local & global business relations, & the largest PR firms are actively pursuing a form of new environmentalism that falsely asserts that technological advance, development, & the free market will automatically save the environment. Corporate PR generally engages in "greenwashing," whereby environmental optimism is emphasized while structural change is avoided. After a brief discussion of the biotechnology debate, it is argued that increased funding & public acceptance of biotechnology came only after an intense PR campaign that stressed the environmental potential of this science. Further, the contemporary acceptance of scientific uncertainty has allowed governments, corporations, & scientists to challenge the validity of a modern environmental crisis & thereby maintain nonenvironmental practices. It is concluded that the minor changes & marginal concessions achieved in the past decade evidence a gross ignorance, underestimation, & conscious avoidance of real environmental problems. T. Sevier