ENVIRONMENTAL TERRORISM - ANALYZING THE CONCEPT

The term 'environmental terrorism' (or 'ecological terrorism') has fou nd its way into North American politics, media, and academia. The conc ept of 'environmental terrorism', however, remains an ambiguous one. W hen is it appropriate to call environmental destruction 'environmental terrorism'? To dare, the term 'environmental terrorism' has been misu sed by North American politicians, media, and academics alike. In this article, I devise a taxonomy that allows one to systematically discer n the types of environmental destruction that can legitimately be labe led 'terrorism' and those that can be labeled 'environmental terrorism '. Environmental destruction or the threat thereof can be labeled 'ter rorism' wizen: (1) the act or threat breaches national and/or internat ional laws governing the disruption of the environment during peacetim e or wartime; and (2) the act or threat exhibits the fundamental chara cteristics of terrorism (i.e. the acr or threat of violence has specif ic objectives, and the violence is aimed at a symbolic target). An act of environmental destruction can be termed 'environmental terrorism' only when the two latter criteria are met, and when the environment is used by the perpetrator as an authentic symbol that instills fear in the larger population over the ecological consequences of the act.