I work in environmental impact assessment and most of our major projects have substantial opposition, usually on environmental grounds. That is true of schemes that are usually seen favourable by environmentalists. But government's can and do ignore that opposition if they want something built.

Also, these kind of comment threads talk about "environmentalists" or even "ecologists" as a single homogeneous group. That is simply not true. Most people in rich countries care about the environment to some degree but differ hugely in what they prioritize. The environment is a big topic that is more complex than just yes/no questions.