Since the global pattern of the tie between nativism and populism was also observed in Serbia, the authors of this research paid special attention to the impact of this connection on environmental reduction, extremist absurdization and paradoxical ethnicization of green politics. Controversies regarding the closure of the Thermal Power Plant in Pljevlja (Montenegro) proved to be a current and very interesting field for comparative research and understanding of polemics and conflicts that appear in the Serbian public regarding the opening of a Jadarite mine in Loznica. Research shows that human and minority rights, social justice, anti-war policy and other equally important elements of green policy have been eliminated in public discourse, thus reducing green policy to environmental issues. After presenting the gloomy socio-political and cultural context in which the research takes place, this policy proposal analyzes the media content and data obtained by field research in two cities where numerous socio-cultural consequences of extraction-based development are evident. The text indicates elements inconsistent with the ideals of an open society, and gives recommendations for their overcoming.