cover image Sch-War Against the Greens

Sch-War Against the Greens

David Helvarg. Random House (NY), $25 (502pp) ISBN 978-0-87156-459-7

Dirty tricks, lies and violence are, according to journalist Helvarg, the mainstays of the anti-environmental movement. The picture painted here is a frightening one of death threats, pet mutilation and arson practiced against a wide range of individuals exercising their First Amendment rights on behalf of the environment. Even worse is the role allegedly played by law enforcement officials. Rather than prosecuting violent crimes by anti-environmental fanatics, the police seem more concerned about threats to society from ``eco-terrorists'' who lie down in front of bulldozers, claims the author. Although his worldview may seem extreme to some, anti-environmentalists' own rantings appear to fully support this position. To quote former President Reagan's interior secretary James Watt, ``If the troubles from environmentalists cannot be solved in the jury box or at the ballot box, perhaps the cartridge box should be used.'' Helvarg demolishes the fiction that anti-environmentalism is a grass-roots movement by demonstrating its massive corporate underpinnings. This powerful investigative reporting should find wide readership. (Oct.)