Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger

In 2004 Ted Nordaus and Michael Shellenberger earned the moniker "the bad boys of environmentalism" by distributing a position paper entitled "The Death of Environmentalism" (pdf) at a conference of environmental activists. In 2007, they expanded on the ideas first presented in that paper with a book entitled Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility. At the center of their argument is the claim that environmentalism has turned too many people away by constantly warning of an immanent ecological apocalypse while at the same time failing to offer a positive vision of the future. As an alternative, Nordhaus and Shelleberger argue that those who seek to combat anthropogenic climate change (aka 'Global Warming') should stress the major economic opportunities that can be created by building a new economy based on innovations in green technology.