Ecocroticism and the role of questioning

Garrard's chapter on Ecocriticism gives a clear overview of some of the major theories and methods of analysis used in the field of environmental literature and study. It is important to understand the theories that are in use because the readings up to and beyond this point will all fall into one or more of the categories of ecocriticism.
While writing should be read and appreciated for what it is and for the message it imparts it is also helpful to have an understanding of the theories that are often the central backbone to many pieces of writing. This allows people to have a clear picture of the stance the author is taking and the underlying point they are perhaps trying to make.
In the piece by McKibben, an excerpt from the book The End Of Nature, the critical theme is that humans have successfully altered nature to the point that nothing will ever again be quite the same. This theme is quite clearly a reflection of the deep ecology theory discussed by Garrard. There is a sense that McKibben is lamenting the passing of nature as it should be, unspoiled by the workings of humanity, and yet he is also aware of the role he plays in that destruction. McKibben has exhibited some strong ideas about the natural world and the rate of population growth, the destruction of natural resources and, in a sense, the end of nature. These ideas are fleshed out in some of his other writings. He has enough clarity and honesty to see that we are all a part of the destruction, yet he, like so many others seems unsure what to do about it. He says "Of course, the person I was fleeing most fearfully was myself, for I drive . . . and I'm burning a collapsed barn. . . because it is much the cheapest way to deal with it, and I live on about four hundred times what Thoreau conclusively proved was enough, so I've done my share to take this independent, eternal world and turn it into a science fair project( and not even a good science-fair project but a cloddish one, like pumping poison into an ant farm and 'observing the effects'.)"
Now this statement rings true because I suspect it captures the emotion that many of us feel when we think about the environment and how we are all contributing to this huge problem, and how we feel rather stuck, and are not sure what is the best way out. For many people shutting down and tuning out on reality is a safe way to cope, but there is only so long we can blind ourselves to the truth staring us in the face.
Rather than choosing to look the other way we could take the path of resistance and defiance, choosing to speak when others would prefer we stay silent. Terry Tempest Williams writes about this resistance in her piece Refuge: An Unnatural History, an essay which combines her memories and experiences of growing up in Utah near the nuclear bomb test sites with a certain ecofeminist mystical theme brought to life in a dream about native women healing the poisoned earth. She seems to feel that the power of femininity and the power of the earth are both at stake, and the combination of the two concepts, as well as the alarming rates of breast cancer in her community all add up to an inability to stay silent. "The price of obedience has become too high. The fear and inability to question authority that ultimately killed rural communities in Utah during atmospheric testing of atomic weapons is the same fear I saw in my mother's body. Sheep. Dead sheep. The evidence is buried."(Williams 756)
It takes a brave soul to stand up for what is right, to speak for those who do not have a voice and to defy those seemingly endless opposing powers who laugh in the face of honest questions. So much is at stake that there can be no alternative but to hope and strive for something a little better, a little more sustainable each day. In an interview with Alex Steffen in The Sun magazine he says something to the effect of, the best way to defy those who want to continue in this destructive polluting manner is to cultivate optimism. Those who we defy want us to be pessimistic and scared, for that continues to feed them power, but if we are optimistic and believe that there is no alternative but to enact sustainable change then we have already begun to walk on the path of defiance.