Hype, Environmental Nut Cases and Junk Science - Editorial

EHSO's Environmental & Safety Editorials

The Demise of the Environmental Profession

Of the roughly 1,000 people I've known in the environmental field (engineers, scientists, consultants, regulators, etc.) 900 of them no longer work in the environmental field. Why?

Most left during the 90's when the environmental services industry went into a deep recession. To people who don't work in the environmental industry, that recession comes as a surprise. Most people assume that environmental engineers are other environmental professionals are in hot demand.

They're partially right; if you are willing to work long hours for low pay (compared to other similar professions).

Why is this? I noticed the trend in the early 90's. The public was caught between a Bermuda Triangle of special interests:

Environmental Fanatics - cried "chicken little" at every conceivable issues, refused to take reasonable positions or reach compromises
Big Corporations - like Exxon, seemed to feel that they could buy their way out of their environmental misdeeds or stonewalled questions.
The mass media - hyped every issue and cause, failed to separate substance from exaggeration, in order to sell more newspapers and boost tv ratings.
Politicians - taking their cues from Clinton, learned to offer nothing but lip-service to environmental issues. Aside from merely renewing the Clean Air Act during the administration of Mr. self-described "environmental vice-president, little else was accomplished. The Republicans continued this trend and today the environment is a non issue in the election.
Federal and State regulators - play politics as usual, picking the easy targets to take enforcement actions against, mostly paperwork violations, while Superfund sites site untouched.

Most of the remaining environmental professionals I know refuse to describe themselves as "environmentalists". The lunatic fringe has claimed that title, and the general public now has a negative image of an "environmentalists