Walter Russell Mead diagnoses how environmentalists undermined their own cause in Under the Bus: A Pack of Pouting Greens.

Snail darters beware: green political cluelessness is about to rock your world.

The United States and the world need a strong and intelligent environmental movement.  We won't get one until and unless the press stops flattering and indulging the pack of incompetents who currently lead it.  Good (but poorly conceptualized) intentions linked to terminally stupid ideas and self defeating methods are a terrible curse.  They steadily discredit environmentalism and push those who care about the environment away from real influence.  I don't actually enjoy tweaking the greens -- but until the mainstream press gets on the case, somebody has to point the way.

That a friend like Mead chooses to describe you like this is telling:

As green leaders choke on their locally sourced, organic heirloom vegetables in impotent rage and ponder writing really, really angry letters to NPR, it is interesting to reflect on the political dead end into which they have been driven.

When your political movement conjures up images of trendy, self absorbed people spending obscene amounts of money on exotic produce, you should know that you are going to lose influence with people trying to make ends meet in a tough economy.   Nor does claiming that your political opponents are anti science cut the mustard when the lifestyles of so many of your own supporters is heavy on conspicuous over consumption and massive carbon footprints.   As Glenn Reynolds has noted about the green's ultimate article of faith, anthropogenic global warming

Meanwhile, for the political leaders, well, I'll believe it's a crisis when the people who tell me it's a crisis start acting like it's a crisis. Until they start foregoing private jets and beachside mansions, it's going to be hard for me to take their calls for sacrifice on my part seriously.