Environmentalist Wacko, Econazi and Ecoterrorists

Environmentalist wacko and Econazi and Ecoterrorists are phrases that right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh uses to describe what he considers to be extremely radical environmentalists; he does not use them to describe people who merely care about the environment.

According to Limbaugh, some "environmentalist wackos" and "econazis"reject all forms of higher technology (electrical, mechanical, medicine, etc) and want the United States to abolish the automobile, stop using oil and gas, and revert to an agrarian society. Members of Earth First or the Earth Liberation Front would in his view exemplify "environmentalist wackos", since they are known for carrying out criminal attacks on organizations they deem destructive to the environment, such as setting fire to buildings or breaking into labs to release animals used for scientific research. These people would also sometimes be called ecoterrorists – many would object to such usage because it seems to equate acts of minor vandalism with major terrorist acts.

He extends the use of the term to describe a much broader segment of the environmentalist movement; thus, other environmentalist policies and principles he attributes to "environmentalist wackos" include: ignoring economic consequences of environmental laws; ignoring or avoiding any cost/benefit analysis regarding environmental policies; placing an equal or higher value on animal life than on human life; suggestions that animals are "just as intelligent" as humans; relying on lawsuits and laws to solve environmental problems, rather than relying on the marketplace. Thus, quite a few environmentalists would probably qualify as "wackos" in his view. He also often accuses "environmentalist wackos" of using environmentalism as an excuse for the government to gain more property and more control over the lives of citizens.

Limbaugh presents news stories with opinions which are unfavorable to theories and beliefs that those he characterizes as "environmentalist wackos" presumably hold. Similar views about the wider environmentalist movement are widely held by many people with conservative political views. Extremist environmentalist organizations like Earth First! and the Earth Liberation Front are sometimes repudiated by people of a variety of political persuasions.