Burning Rage of a Dying Planet: Speaking for the Earth Liberation Front [Kindle Edition]

Craig Rosebraugh (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For five years the aboveground face of the underground environmental group Earth Liberation Front (ELF), Rosebraugh is a man of unrepentant revolutionary convictions. From 1997 until 2001, the Portland, Ore., activist funneled "communiques" from the anonymous and loosely organized "elves" of ELF to local and national media. This role as spokesperson—publicizing ELF’s acts of vandalism, arson and bombing directed against logging companies, "fur farms," businesses that develop suburban housing, a Vail ski resort and even SUV dealerships—quickly brought him to the attention of the FBI. Over the years, his several offices and homes were repeatedly raided, he was subpoenaed seven times to appear before Portland grand juries investigating ELF actions, and in 2002—by which time the FBI had dubbed the shadowy Earth Liberation Front America’s largest and most active terrorist organization—he was called before a congressional committee investigating ecoterrorism. This candid memoir of a young revolutionary (he was 30 when he wrote the book) is often good-natured and even genial, particularly in its account of those police raids and grand jury appearances. But it’s also controversial, as Rosebraugh, though thoughtful and articulate, stands firm in his belief that violence is a legitimate tool in the fight for radical change in America.
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Product Description

The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) has been active in the United States officially since 1997, causing more than $45 million in damages to various entities. As the organization continues to grow and expand its range of targets, ELF has taken an extreme position against individuals, corporations, and governments that, in the organization’s view, places monetary gain ahead of the natural environment. Rejecting state sanctioned means of legal protest, ELF uses economic sabotage to inflict financial suffering on those deemed objectionable.

In February 2002, the FBI listed the ELF as the largest and most active US-based terrorist group. Although no one has died in any of these operations, ELF’s campaign against loggers, SUV dealerships, and others it considers threats to the planet have galvanized and polarized the environmental movement.

Former ELF spokesperson Rosebraugh charts the history and ideology of ELF and explores their tactics, successes, and limitations. He shows how ELFers offer an uncompromising vision of an earth under assault from the forces of greed and corporate violence, and how they employ direct action against those they deem a threat to the planet.

Rosebraugh also examines the issues of whether violence is or is not justifiable, and the short- and long-term political benefits and drawbacks of using violence. Finally, he offers a trenchant vision of the future of the environmental movement, radical politics, and US democracy under the so-called Patriot Act.

Whatever your view of direct action or violence, Burning Rage of a Dying Planet is essential reading for those trying to understand the mindset and motivations of contemporary radical environmentalists.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 2236 KB
• Print Length: 297 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1590560647
• Publisher: Lantern Books (August 31, 2004)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002LE883E
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #399,475 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Too much has been lost ...", September 24, 2005

By 

anomie - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Burning Rage of a Dying Planet: Speaking for the Earth Liberation Front (Paperback)

After reading about the case of Jeff 'Free' Luers, sentenced to 22 years and 8 months in prison for torching 3 SUVs, I decided to research more about The Earth Liberation Front--also known as ELF--and found "Burning Rage of a Dying Planet: Speaking for the Earth Liberation Front" by Craig Rosebraugh. While Luers denies any connection with ELF, the severity of his sentence is a reflection of the increasingly stiff jail terms being handed out for sabotage events termed "eco-terrorism."

Author Craig Rosebraugh served as the media spokesperson for ELF from the first action in 1997 until his resignation in 2001. He charts his life as an activist, and during the first Iraqi war, Rosebraugh quickly found his social attitudes shifting and developing. He became a member of People for Animal Rights, but parted ways with this group when they refused to support the actions of ALF (Animal Liberation Front). Rosebraugh decided he "would philosophically support illegal activity such as civil disobedience and property destruction as long as it was nonviolent." Gradually, Rosebraugh shifted from his single focus on animal rights and embraced a broader based philosophy that addresses various social and political issues. As a founding member of the Liberation Collective, he was recognized as a prominent activist in the Portland area.

In 1997, Rosebraugh began to receive anonymous 'communiques' from individuals announcing various acts of sabotage conducted in the name of the Earth Liberation Front. ELF is an underground movement--composed of individual cells--with no hierarchy, no leadership, and no membership. The Earth Liberation Front basically embraces a radical philosophy that includes the idea that activists have tried 'normal' channels for social change in the environment (petitions, demonstrations, court, etc,) but since those legal channels have failed, and a state of emergency exists with the planet's entire future at risk, individuals take matters into their own hands with sabotage actions committed according to one's conscience. Targeting urban sprawl, animal experimentation, animal cruelty, genetically modified crops, and various instances of anti-environmental travesties (such as gas-guzzling behemoth vehicles, logging of old growth trees, and road building in previous unroaded areas) individual activists conduct acts of sabotage against the property of those they hold responsible for crimes against the environment.

Rosebraugh charts the acts committed in the name of ELF, brushes with law enforcement personnel, numerous encounters with the FBI, and a series of Grand Jury subpoenas. Copies of many of the anonymous ELF communiques are included in the book--along with the ELF guidelines for Direct Action. The book also details efforts of various politicians to crack down on ELF activity (particularly since 9/11), the introduction of the Juvenile Justice Bill, and the amendment of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) to include "Animal Enterprise Terrorism and Ecoterrorists." Since the underground group's first acknowledged action in 1997, approximately $100 million dollars of damage has been wreaked against those targeted by ELF as enemies of the environment, and the group is considered to be the "number one domestic terrorist threat" in the U.S.

"Burning Rage of a Dying Planet" is primarily an account of Rosebraugh's involvement with the ELF as a spokesperson, but it's also a remarkably well-written account of Rosebraugh's development as an activist and as a human being. The book is not a political rant, and while Rosebraugh makes no apologies for his strong political opinions, his complex beliefs are laid out lucidly, sincerely, and with striking humility. "Burning Rage of a Dying Planet" is a gripping read, and anyone interested in environmental issues or in the radical actions of ELF should find it extremely interesting. Frankly--and surprisingly--this is one of the best non-fiction books I've read this year--displacedhuman

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sharply worded yet highly literate manifesto, December 13, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Burning Rage of a Dying Planet: Speaking for the Earth Liberation Front (Paperback)

Written by a spokesperson for the Earth Liberation Front from its inception in 1997 to September 2001, Burning Rage Of A Dying Planet: Speaking For The Earth Liberation Front presents the viewpoint of an organization that uses economic sabotage to inflict financial losses on individuals, corporations and governments that, in the ELF's view, place monetary wealth ahead of the natural environment. In February 2002, the FBI declared the ELF to be the largest and most active US-based terrorist group, even though ELF's operations have never claimed a single human life. Burning Rage Of A Dying Planet describes the ELF's history and ideology, scrutinizes the the short and long-term benefits and drawbacks of using violence, and presents a vision of the future of the environmental movement - as well as an American democracy increasingly threatened by the so-called Patriot Act. A sharply worded yet highly literate manifesto, and a must-read for anyone seeking to better understand the ELF's point of view - whether out of sympathy for its goals or antipathy toward its means.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What you won't learn on Fox TV News!, August 15, 2006

By 

Peter R. Smith (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Burning Rage of a Dying Planet: Speaking for the Earth Liberation Front (Paperback)

Author Craig Rosebraugh was spokesperson for the ELF from 1997 until a few days before 9/11 and recounts his experiences reporting on their activities while being continually harassed by the authorities. Branded as a terrorist organization, the ELF was the focus on several grand jury investigations and the author recounts his many adventures avoiding subpoenas and taking the fifth while under constant threat of prosecution. The extent of ELF activities during this time and since 9/11 surprised me, as we read little about them in the national press and we hear even less of their motives and aims. In addition to being a great read for anyone interested in learning more about the radical environmental movement, it raises some important social questions.