--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Benign environmentalists are opposed to…" description: "\"Benign environmentalists are opposed to pollution, as all sensible people are; malign environmentalists are opposed to energy and most of what it enabl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/kevin-d-williamson-22899_benign_benign-environmentalists-are-opposed-to_1918321.jpg" --- # Benign environmentalists are opposed to pollution, as all… ![“Benign environmentalists are opposed to pollution, as all sensible people are; malign environmentalists are opposed to energy and most of what it enables.” quote by Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/kevin-d-williamson-22899_benign_benign-environmentalists-are-opposed-to_1918321.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/kevin-d-williamson-22899_benign_benign-environmentalists-are-opposed-to_1918321.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/kevin-d-williamson-22899_benign_benign-environmentalists-are-opposed-to_1918321.jpg) > “Benign environmentalists are opposed to pollution, as all sensible people are; malign environmentalists are opposed to energy and most of what it enables.” [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Benign environmentalists oppose pollution; malign ones oppose energy and its benefits. **In simple terms:** Some environmentalists protect nature, others hinder progress. Key Takeaway Identify true environmental goals. Themes environment policy technology Mood critical analytical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - legislation - public debate - activism Key Concepts ethics economics energy policy Questions to Reflect On - What defines “benign” vs “malign” environmentalism? - How do we balance ecological health with energy needs? A Different Perspective Labeling can oversimplify complex positions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Environmentalist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmentalist/) [Environmentalists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmentalists/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Pollution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pollution/) [Sensible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensible/) ## Related quotes > [In fact, because of their connection to the land, farmers do more to protect and preserve our environment than almost anyone else. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ike-skelton/in-fact-because-of-their-connection-to-the-land-farmers-do-more-to/) [Ike Skelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ike-skelton/) > [Do environmentalists really believe that green progress means looking out at America's majestic mountains, forests, green oceans, wilderness areas and deserts and viewing miles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-moore/do-environmentalists-really-believe-that-green-progress-means-looking/) [Stephen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-moore/) > [The environmentalists say capitalism is killing our oceans, air, land, and forests. Capitalists argue that they provide food, fuel, and building materials for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/the-environmentalists-say-capitalism-is-killing-our-oceans-air-land/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [“More broadly, the Nazis were ardent animal lovers and environmentalists who promoted calisthenics and healthy living, regular trips into the countryside, and far-reaching animal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/more-broadly-the-nazis-were-ardent-animal-lovers-and/) [Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/) > [The promises of pie-in-the-sky liberal environmentalists that we can convert to 'clean' energy sources and stimulate our economy are based on dubious environmental and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-limbaugh/the-promises-of-pie-in-the-sky-liberal-environmentalists-that-we-can/) [David Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-limbaugh/) > [It's incredible to see labor unions and environmentalists getting together to stop the corporate mentality that destroys both jobs and the environment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-raitt/it-s-incredible-to-see-labor-unions-and-environmentalists-getting/) [Bonnie Raitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-raitt/) > [They sense that there's a majority out there and that the emotions are all on the other side-if they can be heard. They think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-o-kelso/they-sense-that-there-s-a-majority-out-there-and-that-the-emotions/) [Louis O. Kelso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-o-kelso/) > [Every concerned citizen and policy maker should read this book. The environmentalists will hate it. The world's destitute masses will love it. And everyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niger-innis/every-concerned-citizen-and-policy-maker-should-read-this-book-the/) [Niger Innis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niger-innis/) > [The queue of activists, interest groups, and ordinary people wringing their hands over what a President Donald Trump might do in office is long,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-c-mann/the-queue-of-activists-interest-groups-and-ordinary-people-wringing/) [Charles C. Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-c-mann/) > [Corporate polluters, their phony think tanks and political toadies like to marginalize environmentalists as tree huggers, or radicals. But there is nothing radical about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-f-kennedy-jr/corporate-polluters-their-phony-think-tanks-and-political-toadies/) [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-f-kennedy-jr/) > [I think there has been this really bad habit of environmentalists being insufferably smug, where they are sort of saying, 'This is the issue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/i-think-there-has-been-this-really-bad-habit-of-environmentalists/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [When you look at farmers and ranchers, for example, they are our first environmentalists. They are our first conservationists. When you look at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-pruitt/when-you-look-at-farmers-and-ranchers-for-example-they-are-our-first/) [Scott Pruitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-pruitt/) > [The philosophy that I have worked under most of my life is that the serious study of natural history is an activity which has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-tory-peterson/the-philosophy-that-i-have-worked-under-most-of-my-life-is-that-the/) [Roger Tory Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-tory-peterson/) > [Despite one or two minority appeals our society is not outraged at man's unremitting use of the animal world. Ecologists and environmentalists may talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/despite-one-or-two-minority-appeals-our-society-is-not-outraged-at/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) > [“Two decades ago, however, socialism and communism died rudely, then were buried forever by the empirical demonstration of the superiority of market capitalism everywhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/two-decades-ago-however-socialism-and-communism-died-rudely-then-were/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) ## More by Kevin D. Williamson > [I like to multitask. I love the process of the storytelling in television. I love the serial. Even my stab at doing a procedural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/i-like-to-multitask-i-love-the-process-of-the-storytelling-in/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) > [Even as a child, I just leaned towards the scary. I remember seeing Halloween, for the first time. I snuck into the theater and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/even-as-a-child-i-just-leaned-towards-the-scary-i-remember-seeing/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) > [If you're not willing to have somebody hauled off at gunpoint over the project, then it's probably not a legitimate concern of the state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/if-you-re-not-willing-to-have-somebody-hauled-off-at-gunpoint-over/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) > [“It is baffling that my progressive friends lament the influence of so-called big money on government while at the same time proposing to expand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/it-is-baffling-that-my-progressive-friends-lament-the-influence-of-so/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) > [A lot of it is just waking up and putting one foot in front of the other and going where I just go, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/a-lot-of-it-is-just-waking-up-and-putting-one-foot-in-front-of-the/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) > [The great scandal of American life is that we pay for German levels of government without enjoying the related benefits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/the-great-scandal-of-american-life-is-that-we-pay-for-german-levels/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) > [“The United States in the twenty-first century is not very much like nineteenth-century Prussia (Prussia today isn’t much like Prussia then, either), but we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/the-united-states-in-the-twenty-first-century-is-not-very-much-like/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) > [The thing that makes me feel young, honestly, is making television. It's the only thing that excites me, the way that you get excited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/the-thing-that-makes-me-feel-young-honestly-is-making-television-it-s/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) > [“It would be difficult to find in the United States any profession so dedicated to socialism as that of educators, and difficult to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/it-would-be-difficult-to-find-in-the-united-states-any-profession-so/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) > [“the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that American families pay 26 percent more for milk than they would pay if they paid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/the-organization-for-economic-cooperation-and-development-estimates/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) > [“Detroit is an extreme example of the fact that public-sector employment has become in effect a supplementary welfare state, with salaries and benefits –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/detroit-is-an-extreme-example-of-the-fact-that-public-sector/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) > [“The proximate cause of Detroit’s bankruptcy is its inability to make good on debts owed to the funds paying out pensions and health care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/the-proximate-cause-of-detroit-s-bankruptcy-is-its-inability-to-make/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) > [Horror films had died a little bit before Scream came around. That was one of the reasons I wrote it. I wanted to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/horror-films-had-died-a-little-bit-before-scream-came-around-that-was/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) > [Detroit's political leadership is a parasite that has outgrown its host.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/detroit-s-political-leadership-is-a-parasite-that-has-outgrown-its/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) > [I'm a huge fan of horror. I can't handle all the blood and gore, but that's what The Following was meant to be. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-d-williamson/i-m-a-huge-fan-of-horror-i-can-t-handle-all-the-blood-and-gore-but/) [Kevin D. Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) [Explore all 26 Kevin D. Williamson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-d-williamson/) ## More Benign quotes > [The plausible outcomes range from the gradual and benign to the more precipitous and damaging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-geithner/the-plausible-outcomes-range-from-the-gradual-and-benign-to-the-more/) [Timothy Geithner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-geithner/) > [Whereas religions may serve a benign purpose by letting many people feel comfortable with the level of morality they themselves can attain, no religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/whereas-religions-may-serve-a-benign-purpose-by-letting-many-people/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) > [Factory-farm lobbyists are so powerful and so well funded and they do everything in their power to hide the truth about farming. They keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/factory-farm-lobbyists-are-so-powerful-and-so-well-funded-and-they-do/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [Fame is indeed beautiful and benign and gentle and satisfying, but happiness is something at once tender and brilliant beyond all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/fame-is-indeed-beautiful-and-benign-and-gentle-and-satisfying-but/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Cultural institutions by and large share one primary objective: herd control. Even when ostensibly benign, their propensity for manipulation, compartmentalization, standardization and suppression of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/cultural-institutions-by-and-large-share-one-primary-objective-herd/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/every-single-empire-in-its-official-discourse-has-said-that-it-is-not/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Acid wasn't getting a whole lot of bad press at the time, and as I saw the whole bad-press thing happen, I became aware…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-rettig/acid-wasn-t-getting-a-whole-lot-of-bad-press-at-the-time-and-as-i-saw/) [Tommy Rettig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-rettig/) > [Beneficent spirals, operating by benign feedback, mean that everything needful is not required at once: each individual improvement is beneficial for the whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/beneficent-spirals-operating-by-benign-feedback-mean-that-everything/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [I looked up at the mass of signs and stars in the night sky and laid myself open for the first time to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-looked-up-at-the-mass-of-signs-and-stars-in-the-night-sky-and-laid/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Orders can be benign or malign, but the habit of obeying them can become ingrained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/orders-can-be-benign-or-malign-but-the-habit-of-obeying-them-can/) [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) > [Intelligence may indeed be a benign influence creating isolated groups of philosopher-kings far apart in the heavens... On the other hand, intelligence may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/intelligence-may-indeed-be-a-benign-influence-creating-isolated/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [Every major player is working on this technology of artificial intelligence. As of now, it's benign... but I would say that the day is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-bell/every-major-player-is-working-on-this-technology-of-artificial/) [Ted Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-bell/) > [Of course, I prefer organic farming to chemical-dependent farming, but sometimes absolutist organic prescriptions go too far. I don't even rule out the possibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tristram-stuart/of-course-i-prefer-organic-farming-to-chemical-dependent-farming-but/) [Tristram Stuart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tristram-stuart/) > [How do you survive living in a cell knowing you are innocent? Many of those exonerated whom I have met seem to have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lagravenese/how-do-you-survive-living-in-a-cell-knowing-you-are-innocent-many-of/) [Richard LaGravenese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lagravenese/) > [Human nature has its fatal weaknesses, but 'love' means embracing the whole of human nature, the bad within the good, the benign within the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/qiu-miaojin/human-nature-has-its-fatal-weaknesses-but-love-means-embracing-the/) [Qiu Miaojin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/qiu-miaojin/) Browse all 210 Benign quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Benign environmentalists are opposed to pollution, as all sensible people are; malign environmentalists are opposed to energy and most of what it enables.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kevin D. 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