These examples you have are insightful, and they remind me of the saying, "the perfect is the enemy of the good." Zealots want the "perfect", and Moderates want

These examples you have are insightful, and they remind me of the saying, "the perfect is the enemy of the good." Zealots want the "perfect", and Moderates want the "good." It does seem to me that you are working with a strong bias against environmentalists, though, and maybe it's because you don't consider yourself one? I've been thinking a lot about identity, and how a lot of our interpersonal issues comes down to whether or not we see our fellow humans as "same" or "different". ... and I'm starting to understand that the important thing is to evaluate ideas on their own merits, and pay less and less attention to the individual putting forth the idea. We're already working with a lot of crummy ideas that are in full effect (long dead the individuals having put forth those ideas), and now we have adherents of those ideas roaming about the world quite zealously. But I don't blame the environmentalist for being an extremist. I think they rightly perceive the situation they find themselves in to be an extreme one. I'm glad they get to tell us about it, and happy when they are able to limit humanity's encroachment on a diminishing wilderness.