Here's a environmental philosophy I can support whole-heartedly: "environmental economics.
“THE environmental movement's foundational concepts, its method for framing legislative proposals, and its very institutions are outmoded. Today environmentalism is just another special interest.” Those damning words come not from any industry lobby or right-wing think-tank. They are drawn from “The Death of Environmentalism”, an influential essay published recently by two greens with impeccable credentials. They claim that environmental groups are politically adrift and dreadfully out of touch. ...If environmental groups continue to reject pragmatic solutions and instead drift toward Utopian (or dystopian) visions of the future, they will lose the battle of ideas. And that would be a pity, for the world would benefit from having a thoughtful green movement. It would also be ironic, because far-reaching advances are already under way in the management of the world's natural resources—changes that add up to a different kind of green revolution. This could yet save the greens (as well as doing the planet a world of good).
Read the rest of the article for a very brief synopsis of how market forces can be utilized to protect our valuable environment. It points out that stereotypical environmentalists generally roll their eyes at the application of economic principles such as cost-benefit analysis to the environment, but until they're willing to abandon emotional scare tactics for reason and logic it's unlikely that they're going to achieve any of their goals -- goals that I largely share, and would join them in if their methods weren't so hideously counter-productive.
