CULTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE PACIFIC-NORTHWEST

Douglas and Wildavsky argue that environmental activism is rooted in a n egalitarian cultural bias. Others, like Paehlke, counter that enviro nmental commitments and concerns are autonomous from redistributive co ncerns. Students of the ''New Politics'' agree that environmentalism i s autonomous from conventional left-right distributive concerns but al so argue that environmental attitudes and beliefs are embedded in ''po stmaterial'' values, such as citizen participation. Still other schola rs emphasize a cultural consensus around environmental values and beli efs. What distinguishes environmental activists, in this view, is less what they believe than their willingness to make sacrifices for those values and beliefs. Drawing upon several surveys of environmental gro ups and the mass public in the Pacific Northwest, we test these four h ypotheses and find that the Douglas-Wildavsky ''cultural theory,'' alt hough not without its limitations, appeals to provide the more satisfa ctory account of environmental preferences.