This essay is shaping my thinking lately, as is this reaction.

http://blogs.onenw.org/onelist/001779.html

"Conservationist credibility with the public is falling, and for reasons greater than the most recent election we're losing traction with lawmakers. Many view the environmental movement as elitist and self-righteous, with "no" being the operative word in our vocabulary.

While our movement does much good, and conservation measures actually did well in the recent elections, we should be mindful of our failings, be they real or perceptions increasingly held by the public. Environmentalists are often viewed as detached from the lives of regular people, and in a public interest movement, this is very bad news. 'Most people wake up in the morning trying to reduce what they have to worry about. Environmentalists wake up trying to increase it.'"