Paging Eric Blair: The Rise of ‘Envirocrime’

While the UK might not have yet adopted full-scale thoughtcrime penalties, the Brits are hot on the path of “envirocrime.”

Ealing Council in west London is using the cameras – said to be hidden in households objects such as tin cans and bricks – to tackle so-called “envirocriminals” in their area.

It said “major envirocrime” included “vandalism, graffiti and serial, large-scale fly-tipping”.

But it denied that people who put their bins out early were also being targeted.

Right now they’re focusing on old fashioned violations like spraypainted graffiti, but with such a catchy phrase, surely additional behaviors are ripe for inclusion under the rubric of envirocrime. Could a proposal for felony CO2 emissions be far off?