I agree that it is problematic if environmentalists, including ethicists, emphasize blame for environmental degradation above all else. Doing so is a limited approach to environmental ethics and can be quite discouraging. A positive ethic in the sense of being both prescriptive and uplifting, or at least offering some hope, can be quite helpful in motivating behavioral change. However, examining only positive moral emotions will also lead to an impoverished ethic, as it will ignore an important part of human experience, a potential source of ethics, and/or potential hindrance to ethical life. I am interested in ethics for an imperfect world, which requires us to grapple with how to do ethics given our finitude and failings, not just our possibilities.

— Environmental Guilt and Shame by Sarah E. Fredericks (Page 112)