Is Show Over for 'Eco-terror' Security Theatre?

The Department of Homeland Security reports that white supremacist hate groups and other anti-government extremists have become the nation's top domestic terrorist threats. These groups are exploiting people's fears about the crumbly economy, stagnant wages and home foreclosures, the election of Barack Obama, and the immigration of Latinos, in order to attract new adherents.

This marks the close of a particularly fantastical episode of Bush administration security theatre: the one where radical environmental activists were the top threat to the nation.

"The [new DHS] report, 'Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment' also warns of the recruitment of military veterans to extremist groups," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. "The SPLC reported earlier this year that white supremacist groups claimed a post-election surge of new members and heavy traffic to their websites. This surge came after scores of racially charged incidents — beatings, effigy burnings, racist graffiti, threats and intimidation — were reported across the country following the presidential election."

It shouldn't be news that demonstrably murderous terrorist movements exist on America's political fringe -- from extreme anti-abortion activists, to white supremacists, anti-government zealots and death/destructive cultists.

But most anti-social green advocates -- even the self-styled revolutionaries who had some significant successes with burning down or blowing up millions of dollars worth of property in the past decade -- haven't been in the habit of threatening people with physical harm, much less injuring or murdering them.

That didn't stop the Bush administration from upgrading (yes, very costly and destructive) vandalism to "eco-terrorism" in early 2001, and dubbing the perpetrators America's most dangerous fringe political faction. As recently as 2005, the FBI rated "eco-terrorists" and animal rights activists the top domestic terrorism threat. The move inhibited much activism against the administration's policies. And while it may have made some people feel more secure, going after eco-activists probably meant even greater federal inattention to the truly dangerous threats.

According to Will Potter at greenisthenewred.com, who dubbed the phenomenon the 'Green Scare,'

The government and corporations haven’t tried to hide the fact that this is all meant to protect corporate profits...[U]nderground activists like the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front directly threaten corporate profits by doing things like burning bulldozers or sabotaging animal research equipment.

...The entire animal rights and environmental movements, perhaps more than any other social movements, directly threaten corporate profits. They do it every day. Every time activists encourage people to go vegan, every time they encourage people to stop driving, every time they encourage people to consume fewer resources and live simply.

Whether the Green Scare premise makes sense to you or not, it's a relief to see this particular bit of the Bush administration's security theatre fade to black.