Why Conservatism Has Become Anti-Conservation

Written from the viewpoint of a widely experienced environmental scientist, the book discusses the roots, characteristics, and effects of the usually unmentioned elephant in the room when environmental issues are being considered. This is the conservative political mindset, which tends to block environmental reforms based largely on ideological principle. When coupled with similar drives in much of industry the combination has historically been and will continue to be a force in...
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Written from the viewpoint of a widely experienced environmental scientist, the book discusses the roots, characteristics, and effects of the usually unmentioned elephant in the room when environmental issues are being considered. This is the conservative political mindset, which tends to block environmental reforms based largely on ideological principle. When coupled with similar drives in much of industry the combination has historically been and will continue to be a force in delaying and obstructing environmental action, including most recently relating to global climate change. In trying to figure out why one of our two main political ideologies includes an apparent contradiction to a basic survival interest, conserving their living environment for the benefit of their offspring (if not for themselves), Lechich looked into relevant works including evolution sciences, anthropology and psychology for possible answers. He concludes that there seems to be clear linkages between our primal behavioral strategies and our modern political ideologies. The results of this evolution are that particular characteristics of either ideology are very tightly held by those individuals who have inherited a pronounced version. Psychological studies have linked conservatism with strongly held characteristics which relate to opposition toward environmentally-oriented restrictions. He also shows that cooperation has often been an important behavioral path in our evolution, and makes the case that it would surely be the better survival strategy in the dire environmental conditions we face today. In fact, he concludes that conservatism has become an evolutionary maladaptation when it comes to managing our environment. Lechich hopes that by clearly demonstrating the in-grained and thereby basically thoughtless nature of much of conservatism's antagonism toward environmental reforms, political moderates and independents will be more dismissive of their anti-environmental stance and attacks, clearing the way for more cooperative, democratic action to deal with our looming environmental problems.