In Break Through, Shellenberger and Nordhaus declare that traditional environmentalism—a politics of limits whose greatest victories were in the Sixties—is a political failure, unresponsive to the dramatic changes in American values, and ill-equipped to handle our current ecological threat. The authors examine the larger failure of American liberalism to reinvent itself, arguing that we must go beyond small-bore environmentalism and interest-group liberalism to create a politics focused as much on uncommon greatness as the common good.

In other words, environmentalism, as we have known it, should die, so that a more powerful and coherent form can take its place—one that recasts global warming not as an intractable horror, but as a challenge to mankind's ingenuity and potential; a challenge, they make clear, that we are up for. Break Through, like the article that inspired it, offers bracing solutions for the future, though not without controversy. But as Wired magazine points out, "Green groups may carp, but the truth is the book could turn out to be the best thing to happen to environmentalism since Rachel Carson's Silent Spring."

After delivering their prescient article, Shellenberger and Nordhaus were praised and criticized from all points on the political spectrum. They made the cover of The Economist and were front page news on The New York Times. Even today when you google "environmentalism," the fourth return is "The Death of Environmentalism."

Veteran environmental advocates who have worked on some of the most innovative approaches to environmental issues in recent memory, Shellenberger and Nordhaus are managing partners of the Breakthrough Institute, a nonprofit think tank, and American Environics, a research and strategy firm that uses cutting-edge social values science to advise philanthropists, social change strategists, and political candidates.

Environmentalism is a classic motherhood issue. Many people who consider themselves progressives find it difficult to criticize the movement, let alone develop new and innovative approaches to our most pressing environmental concerns. It is this conundrum that Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus have set out to address.

They are profoundly respectful of the legacy of environmentalism. But, while wanting to continue with its spirit of revolution and innovation, they argue that environmentalism, as we know it, should die. While hugely important when it first developed, it has accomplished all that it can, and is in fact incapable of dealing with the greatest threat facing humanity today: global warming. Treating global warming as purely "environmental" in nature and framing the solutions required as technical ones, is, they argue, at the heart of the movement's political failings. They challenge audiences to recognize that meeting this threat requires a new kind of aspirational politics, one that will replace the reductionism and technical solutions of traditional environmentalism with a bold and inspiring vision that will resonate with modern American values and be capable of tackling our most pressing challenges.

Their vision of a new politics returns to the ecological roots of early environmentalism and doesn't treat the environment as some "thing" outside of human civilization. Without this kind of thinking, they argue, we are doomed to an endless cycle of proposals, counterproposals, and legislative inertia that will do little to address the very real problem of global warming. Nordhaus and Shellenberger believe that most people want to do the right thing, and when presented with a vision of the future that is both hopeful and environmentally ethical, Americans will embrace it.

In compelling presentations that can address both the big picture of global climate change as well as the details of specific issues such as American oil dependency, the Kyoto Accord, deforestation and other related topics, Nordhaus and Shellenberger provide audiences with new ideas and fresh new perspectives on problems that many have come to regard, sadly, as insurmountable. There is hope and a vision for the future, and one great place to start is with these two young iconoclasts.

Go to Top of Page