LB, how did the Chabad Rabbi explain how environmentalism is connected to the 7 mitzvos bnei noach? The prohibition of ever min hachai (eating an animal alive)? – that isn’t exactly promoting environmentalism. Perhaps he was trying to make his words relevant to a secular audience by focusing on things that he knew was important to them?
One more thing about environmentalism, animal rights activism, etc. When viewpoints and morality are not based on Torah Hashkafa, they are easily warped. So you see that animal rights extremists are so worried about an animal being abused that they will commit violence against people. Or how about EPA rules that destroy people’s livelihoods and homes in order to protect some bird’s habitat. Things need to come from a Torah perspective, and what we do (e.g. dispose of our waste in a proper manner so as not to make our living space impure) or don’t do (e.g. chop down fruit trees) is based on halacha, not on what makes us feel good.