Naess ' s ecosophy stresses several important factors : most importantly , nature is a spiritual place ; mankind is causing extreme environmental degradation ; human population must be controlled ; and consumer capitalist mentality must be changed or stopped to protect the environment . Therefore , Devall and Sessions posit , “ Deep Ecology is emerging as a way of developing a new balance and harmony between individuals , communities , and all of nature ” ( 7 ). Naess himself often spoke of peaceful means of enacting Deep Ecology . Naess believed that separation from , not engagement in , society would bring about meaningful change .
However , tenet eight suggests that those who use more radical means have the moral high ground to engage in more radical forms of environmental activism , from protests , to civil disobedience , to full blown monkey wrenching . Unlike the reform minded Sierra Club ( established by the pioneering environmentalist John Muir in 1892 ) environmental activist groups , such as The Greenpeace Foundation ( established in 1971 ), have spun off of earlier environmental factions as they became disillusioned with what they perceived as ineffectiveness . Greenpeace “ Emphasized ' bearing-witness ' against the wrongs of social practice , arguing and standing for the elimination of social acts deemed immoral or unjust ” ( Killingsworth and Palmer 194 ). Greenpeace ' s mission calls for non-violent protests against environmental destruction . However , The Sierra Club ' s and Greenpeace ' s tactics for environmentalism soured with some who fled the group to form Earth First !, a more radical organization informed by Naess ' s tenet of directly acting to stop environmental degradation . Earth First !' s philosophy statement makes a more action-oriented organization :
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