Environmental groupsTable 6.4 Types of impact of environmental pressure groupsInternal
Impact on identity
Politicisation of membership/supporters of group
External
Sensitising impacts
Changes in the political agenda and public attitudes
Procedural impacts
Access to decision-making bodies
Structural impacts
Changes in institutional or alliance structures, such as the creation of an
environment agency or shift in attitude of parties
Substantive impacts
Material results: closure of a nuclear plant or new pollution legislation
Source:Based on Kriesi et al. ( 1995 : 209–12) and van der Heijden ( 1999 : 202–3).
Torgerson ( 1999 )identifies the creation of a ‘green political sphere’, stretch-
ing beyond the radical fringe, characterised by an environmental discourse
that allows people to live political lives, as a major achievement of the envi-
ronmental movement. There is also evidence from the UK (Rootes1999b:
298) and the USA (Szasz 1994 )that even NIMBY activity can be a politically
educative experience. Here, the key question, as Freudenberg and Steinsapir
(1992)put it, is whether a NIMBY reaction can become a Not in Anyone’s
Back Yard (NIABY) belief. Does involvement in a struggle against a LULU
encourage individuals to ask broader questions, such as ‘If I don’t want this
incinerator in my neighbourhood, why should anyone else have to put up
with it?’ People might then start to ask wider questions about the nature of
energy production and consumption. In short, they may begin to develop a
wider ecological consciousness. The involvement of local groups in coalitions
such as the National Toxics Campaign in the USA, by encouraging people to
link their struggles with those of other communities, can play a vital role in
this educative process. By contrast, ‘couch’ members of major environmental
organisations may salve their environmental consciences through the lim-
ited act of paying a regular donation to a major group, whilst continuing
theirconsumerist lifestyle. If an annual payment is the limit of an indi-
vidual’s activity, then involvement clearly has little additional politicising
effect. Yet ‘couch’ membership should not be dismissed lightly. The very act
of joining is a political statement. The access to magazines and campaign-
ing literature may prove educative, encouraging people to reflect on their
own and others’ lifestyles. Membership may also be the first step towards a
wider involvement, particularly if individuals become frustrated that their
membership seems to be making little ‘difference’.