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Greens under attack

Chip Giller Nov. 14, 1994 From the print edition
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  The press has followed the wrong story, says David Helvarg, author of The War Against the Greens: The "Wise-Use" Movement, the New Right, and Anti-Environmental Violence. Zealous anti-environmentalists like to portray themselves as victims of an elite movement that has swept across the country, Helvarg says, and the national press, led by New York Times environmental correspondent Keith Schneider, has played into their hands. But Helvarg, an investigative reporter, says the true victims are harassed grass-roots activists. The press and the government, he says, have failed to investigate reports of violence committed against environmentalists, including bombings, arson and rapes. Highlights of this diffuse account include interviews with wise-use leaders Ron Arnold, Chuck Cushman and Bill Gunnel, who travel to hotspots to politicize local conflicts and create a perception of widespread support. Helvarg also documents the onslaught of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) and the anti-green operations of Lyndon LaRouche and the Reverend Sun Myung Moon.


Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, CA, 1994. $25 cloth. 512 pages, including bibliography and index.


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