Earth First! is an international radical environmental movement. Radical means root and EF! Strives to address the true root causes of environmental destruction. For this reason we challenge not only specific polluting operations, but they entire dynamics of power by which industry is sanctioned by law and government to reap profit off of projects that cause direct harm to life both human and non-human. Held aloft by capitalism and an increasingly oppressive government this intentionally and meticulously designed status quo must be directly confronted, challenged and changed.
The very future of life on Earth is in danger. Human activities—from hunting to habitat destruction—have already driven countless species to extinction, and the process is only accelerating. The destruction of the Earth and its sustainable indigenous cultures has led to tragedy in every corner of the globe.
Meanwhile, scientists have confirmed what indigenous cultures have taught for thousands of years: all forms of life are vitally connected. Removing even a single strand from the web of life produces a widening ripple of catastrophe. On a more spiritual level, Earth First!ers understand that we can never be the healthy humans that we were meant to be in a world without wilderness, clean air and the howling of wolves under the moon.
It is not enough to ask politicians and corporations to destroy less wilderness. We need to preserve it all, to recreate lost habitats and reintroduce extirpated predators. We need to stop and reverse the poisoning of our air, water and soil, as well as the modification of life's genetic code. It is not enough to oppose the construction of new dams and developments. It is time to free our shackled rivers and restore the land.
Earth First! formed in 1979, in response to an increasingly corporate, compromising and ineffective environmental community. It is not an organization, but a movement. There are no "members" of EF!, only Earth First!ers. We believe in using all of the tools in the toolbox, from grassroots and legal organizing to civil disobedience and monkeywrenching. When the law won't fix the problem, we put our bodies on the line to stop the destruction. Earth First!'s direct-action approach draws attention to the crises facing the natural world, and it saves lives.
Guided by a philosophy of deep ecology, Earth First! does not accept a human-centered worldview of "nature for people's sake." Instead, we believe that life exists for its own sake, that industrial civilization and its philosophy are anti-Earth, anti-woman and anti-liberty. Our structure is non-hierarchical, and we reject highly paid "professional staff" and formal leadership.
To put it simply, the Earth must come first.
Common Earth First! tenets:
Biocentrism: the belief that all things on earth are equal and have inherent value in and of themselves regardless of their instrumetnal value to humans; that boundaries and borders are irrelevant to defining healthy ecosystems or biogergions
Deep Ecology: the praxis of biocentrism, or thinking and living in way the reflect our biocentric beliefs. There is a collection of thinkers, writers and poets who have expounded on this tenet
No Compromise: Unwillingness to cooperate in attack of the earth. To much has been destroyed to make any deals or negotiations with our enemies. We want to protect all that's left of the world earth and health what's been destroyed. And we will fit for its, as we would for any of our and family under attack.
Direct Action: Direct is cutting out the middle man (whether corporate boss, or NGO leaders) and acting for ourselves. Our words in the above tenets are nothing without our actions.
Our general guiding framework may also may be described as RADICAL ECOLOGY.