Thinking about it, this is probably a side effect of the later, dirtier portions of the industrial revolution (early-1800s-) vs the early conservation movement

Thinking about it, this is probably a side effect of the later, dirtier portions of the industrial revolution (early-1800s-) vs the early conservation movement (mid 1800s+). I think it's ultimately to the detriment of the environment that the preservationist/Muir/Sierra Club strain of environmentalism won out over the sustainability/Roosevelt/management view in the public consciousness. Of course, I generally stop listening when an "environmentalist" starts railing against nuclear power without a cogent argument (of which I'll admit there are a few). Love alone doesn't save nature, sadly.