Extinction Rebellion: Who is The BMJ calling radical environmentalists?

I agree with the content of Armitage’s report of the Extinction Rebellion movement except for the use of the term radical environmentalists.1

Extinction Rebellion has rightly sought to bring to wider attention the imminent breakdown of our climate and the catastrophe this will herald if we do not change our behaviour very soon.2 I can’t see how this would be described as radical: we don’t label smoking cessation practitioners as “radical anti-cancers” or school crossing patrols as “radical anti-accident activists.”

Using the term radical allows those who want to dismiss the message to do so by dismissing the messenger. How many of us would be comfortable being called a radical anything? Even using the word environmentalists potentially allows this group to be thought of as “others.” Surely we all, locally or globally, wish our environment to be safe and protected?

We’re all in the same boat, and it’s sinking fast. Let’s not waste time, as human beings so often do, by resorting to “them and us” and so giving ourselves an excuse to carry on as we are. We all need to roll our sleeves up and start bailing—and that is not a radical statement.