Man was never intended to become an oyster.

Sully wonders why conservatives don't seem interested in conservation:

But a conservative will surely also want to be sure that he conserves this inheritance, for its own sake and also for his future use. He will want to husband the natural world, not rape it and throw it away. He will see the abandonment of all values to that of immediate gratification as a form of insanity, if not evil.

I went to an ag school, and I know plenty of conservatives that are also conservationists. But when it comes to the conservative American public and their opposition to environmentalism, I place a certain proportion of blame on the following:

-50% on modernity. As Yglesias likes to note, the modern world has created many new ways to spend your time, but has as of yet failed to produce more time in the day. People just don't spend as much time outside any more. Outdoor activities have been reduced to hobbies that are only pursued by enthusiasts. Ditto environmentally-friendly but time-consuming activites like separating (and delivering, if you're like me and don't get curbside pickup in your town) the recyclables.

-30% on identity-based reactionary tendencies- those people are for this, so I can't be. I may not be against it, per se, but I can't in good conscience side with them. The them in this case is the usual lot of socialist Amurka-hating DFHs that are often portrayed in popular media as chaining themselves to trees and insulating their houses with cow dung. These stereotypes tend to echo around in our collective unconsciousness and are hard to shake.

-and the final 20% on Christianism, the fundamentalists who honestly think that no matter what we do, God will fix it for us if he so chooses. If not, He will just squish us anyway, so there's no point worrying about it. (Subset: Jesus is coming back soon, so why worry about the future? Though this Left Behind millenialism is fading as we leave Y2K behind, thankfully.)

Your thoughts?