Environmentalism as a belief

The Economist has a piece about a court case in Britain that establishes that environmentalism is a form of protected belief. Protected in the sense that it is illegal to discriminate against somebody, in the work place (according to the Equality and Employment (Religion or Belief) Regulations), regarding their green beliefs. Tim Nicholson argued his former employers had discriminated against him. Some might say environmentalism is a far more rationally grounded than religious beliefs. That said, religious beliefs are basically protected because they are not rational and people freak-out when their beliefs are threatened, because they can't defend that belief. It kind of disturbs me the idea that rational beliefs are now protected because they should and can be challenged as part of a healthy civil society.