John Muir and the Sierra

John Muir and the Sierra Club: Promoting the legacy of preservation vs. The materialist and utilitarian character of contemporary American society

Towards the end of 19th century, and as American society fully embarked into a period of extensive capitalism and modernism, the naturalist John Muir embodied the individual who sought to create a balance between modernism's utilitarian perspective and maintenance of humanity's harmony and relationship with its natural environment.

Muir as a noted naturalist helped develop the concept of natural environment preservation and environmentalism early on in modern American society. Originating from Scotland, Muir immigrated to America in 1849, and as a young man, traveled extensively the environs of California, becoming more than just an explorer of researcher for nature, but a preservationist of nature as well. One of the most important legacies that he left in American society is the formation of the Sierra Club, an environmentalist organization that perpetuated Muir's vision of a modern America with a preserved natural environment.

In this paper, a discussion of John Muir's legacies in the history of American society and of environmentalism in general is provided. The discussion centers on two of Muir's most important contributions to modern society: the introduction and popularization of environmentalism (specifically environment preservation) in American society, and the creation of the Sierra Club, an environmentalist group that takes concrete actions -- particularly legal and civic ones -- that support and help preserve the environment, as envisioned by its founder John Muir.

The first part of the discussion centers on the popularization of the concept of preservation of nature, or environmentalism in general. This movement is progressively introduced and developed by John Muir, having recognized the possibility that modernism's rampant and selfish utilization of natural resources could result to radical environmental degradation and loss in years to come. Miller's (1993) thoughtful analysis of Muir's contributions to environmentalism in the contemporary American society showed that Muir helped influence two important ideas in "modern environmental thinking": that (1) nature can be preserved and (2) nature can be enjoyed and used as a form of recreation (11).

The notion of preserving the nature, as noted by Miller, takes on a new meaning in the contemporary American society. In Muir's society, preservation is the crux of the environmentalist movement, since during his time Muir only encountered rapid utilization of natural resources for the increased development of the gradually modernizing environs of American society. As the author noted, Muir did not encounter 'truly environmental' problems such as air, water, land, and noise pollutions and global warming, among others. Thus, at present, Muir's idea of preservation is no longer relevant in a society wherein preservation is no longer the main concern, but merely the survival or maintaining of ecological balance between humanity and nature. However, Muir's preservationist stance is still significant in promoting environmentalism in the country, which, as the Sierra Club had shown, can take an active role in achieving Muir's vision of a harmonious relationship between nature and humanity.

Indeed, the Sierra Club takes environmentalism not only out on the streets, but in the legislative processes as well. The organization is well-known is known for its active and radical stance when it comes to nature preservation and pollution prevention programs. It works with civil society, manufacturing and business companies, as well as the Congress in order to promote their objective of protecting and preserving the environment.

An example of Sierra Club's cooperation and active stance towards safeguarding the safety of the environment and humanity's physical surroundings, the organization had reached an agreement with car manufacturer Ford Motor Company in promoting the company's "first hybrid electric vehicle" (NY Times, 2005). This hybrid electric vehicle, the Mercury Mariner sport utility vehicle, is supported by the Sierra Club for its contribution to lessening fuel consumption. The environmentalist group took an active role in educating the consumers on the relationship between the product and environmentalism, and also taught them "how to drive hybrids."