Environmentalists usually are pro-sprawl because they mistakenly think that if they’re near trees they’re good for the environment. It’s why everything from the Sierra Club in the US down to environmentalists associated with socialist groups opposes infill housing and renewable energy.

So yes, mostly the NIMBY shit you refer to. Though apparently the other chap lives in a place where they managed to solve that so we will see soon enough how they did when he says where.