The Earth Liberation Front

The Earth Liberation Front

Travis Manchester

UMUC

Abstract

The Earth Liberation Front is one of the radical environmental movements that was birthed by the British Earth First during the last decade of the twentieth century. The philosophical foundations of this group include a collective defense of the natural environment, an inclination towards non-violence, a feeling of persecution from law enforcement agencies, and deep ecology. The group is still active in the United States but it is not as “visible” as it was during its initial stages. Regardless, the United States federal government considers the actions of this group to be acts of domestic terrorism. As expected, especially following the 2001 September 11 attacks on the United States, the government has heightened its efforts to fight all forms of terrorism that would threaten national security. One of the policies aimed at checking domestic terrorism is the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, which is also meant to address the activities of the Earth Liberation Front.  

The Earth Liberation Front

        On October 14, 1996, The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) made its first major round of attacks in the United States in Oregon. On that same night, there were three attacks carried out simultaneously by the group and targeted a McDonald’s restaurant, a public relations office, and Chevron station. The attacks were conducted in somewhat similar fashion as the locks in all three targets were reported to have been glued and that their property was painted with political messages (Peet and Watts, 2004). Over the following decade, the group carried out several other attacks mostly aimed at causing economic sabotage to the individuals and organizations that comprised their targets. For this reason, the United States federal government has since labeled the ELF as the “most active criminal extremist group” in the country (Loadenthal, 2013). Also, the exploits of the group have also brought it to the status of domestic terrorism organization. One of the main policies enacted by Congress to illegalize the activities of this group is the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act of 2006. However, this statute has been found to be considerably ineffective in addressing the issue of eco-terrorism in the country, thereby calling for a change in policy.            

The Earth Liberation Front Movement Ideology

The overall ideology of the ELF is contained in the movement’s guidelines, which are formulated by unknown people and then passed over to members and the rest of the public via movement literature, thereby presenting a virtual reality for later action (Loadenthal, 2013). Even though there is barely any central authority that decides whether a particular action is in line with the guidelines, there are movement discussions and debates that act as a vetting process.  

The ideology of this terrorism group envelopes thematic trends or components collectively making up a common ethos. One of the main thematic trends contained in the group’s ideology is “deep ecology,” commonly referred to as biocentrism, which educates that all living entities have equal value and an intrinsic right to exist and thrive (Loadenthal, 2013). The ELF uses this viewpoint to judge those who they consider to be destructive of life and the natural environment. The man influence for this philosophy comes from the group’s historical developments including its anti-civilization learnings known as Green anarchism or Primitivism.  Green anarchism calls for the establishment of a collectivized, pre-industrial, “untamed” civilization of lightly linked communities lacking and ignorant of modern technology.

Given that the ideology of the group harbors anarchist tendencies, its ranks are filled by a considerable number of anarchists. The ideological teachings of the ELF and those of anarchism tend to converge at the idea that oppression of any form is intrinsically incompatible with the human race (Loadenthal, 2013). Therefore, all forms of oppression have to be replaced with non-coercive and non-hierarchical techniques of organization as well as collective responsibility. The ELF ideology that goes against hierarchical structures is evident in the group’s methods of organization. The ELF argues that modern capitalism is the most significant threat to the natural environment and that the individualism born in the West is founded on the desire to exploit the Earth’s natural resources.  

Another thematic trend of the ELF is acting as the “defenders of those who are defenseless,” “voice of those who are voiceless,” and contending that the Earth is under attack by the human race itself (Loadenthal, 2013). In this case, the Earth or the natural environment is considered to be defenseless and voiceless. For this reason, the ELF consider it their responsibility to act and speak on behalf of the Earth.

The third component of the group’s ideology is its tendency to act as an advocate against any form of violence in all forms of life. This is quite strange, given their modus operandi (Loadenthal, 2013). However, the group considers the non-living property of those who are “guilty” of eco-offense, including individuals and corporations, as exceptions in their advocacy for non-violence. Such beliefs and constant injury-free actions allow the group to paint its behavior of property destruction as non-violent interference given that such behavior fails to target any living entity.

The final component of the ELF ideology is the group tendency to make accusations regarding inexcusable attacks by law enforcement agencies. These complaints make up a significant part of discussions between ELF cells, with many members believing that they are being unjustifiably persecuted by these agencies (Loadenthal, 2013). These accusations are somewhat warranted, whether accurate or not, given the behavior of the United States government relationship with the ELF and similar groups over the past two decades. Since the United States started its Domestic War on Terrorism immediately after the September 11 attacks, the increased State repression has mostly been pointed towards environmental and animal liberation activists and groups. The repressive methods, which the ELF terms the Green Scare, employed by the State are particularly unique to these groups considering how the government treats other non-violent movements that are active in the country. Thus, the ELF ideology is to portray the activists as the victims of what they consider to be unfair treatment from the government.