The environmental movement, its noble and commendable goals notwithstanding, also demonstrated a tendency to take a certain amount of pleasure simply from the act of shouting “Stop!” at the big and powerful.  One notable example of this was the killing of a major hydroelectric dam project in Maine, because the dam was seen to threaten an obscure plant called the furbish lousewort.

On the eve of construction, an estimated 250 of these plants, which had previously been considered extinct, were found growing in an area that the dam would have put underwater.

It would have been within the bounds of reason to believe that the planet might survive the loss of these plants.  Everyone already thought they were gone, and somehow our seas were still relatively intact, and the skies had avoided turning toxic orange.  Moreover, the hydroelectric power generated by the dam would have reduced the need to generate electricity in other, more environmentally harmful ways involving the combustion of carbon.

Nevertheless, after a protracted battle in the courts, the cause of the furbish lousewort was found to be more compelling than that of generating a cleaner form of energy. The dam remains unbuilt to this day.

To put the icing on the cake, several thousand of the plants have since been found growing in other places that would not have been affected by the dam.