In contemporary context, the term environmentalist is associated with groups that burn homes under construction, burn or trash research labs, sue, not for merit,but to create obstruction, chain themselves to trees and damage personal vehicles because they do not fit their environmentally "correct" perceptions. The contemporary environmentalists riot in Seattle, Washington DC and Paris, obstruct justice and vandalize.
I too was once an environmentalist. I was and will always be concerned with the quality of the air that I breathe and the water that I drink. But, I will never ever, allow my ethics and my personal values be compromised to the point where I could be called an environmentalist today.
Today, Environmentalist is simply another term used by Socialists to hide their politics.
Every good Environmentalist 'knows" that all pollution is cause by greedy 'Big Business' Capitalism. By the mid 1970's, the USSR figured this one out and got very busy in Europe to create the Green Party.
Today, the Socialist party is alive and well here in America.
I continue to work in support of efforts that actually improve our environment in ways that actually work, instead of following some political agenda.
To me, those who commit such acts aren't so much "environmentalists" as they are whacked out terrorists looking for a reason to rebel. Of course there ARE those who are mislabeled as being in league with these whackos, and it is not just them but all of us that suffer as a result..