Power distribution is a crucial question of environmental and sustainability education (ESE) theory and implementation. As a social reaction to the environmental crisis, ESE aims to develop new, pro-environmental patterns of thinking and behavior, inadvertently opening a question of balance between education and indoctrination. The presentation briefly discusses the rationale of the instrumental and participatory approaches as the opposite paradigms of the field. Each is presented in a case study of an ESE program: the Earthkeepers and the EcoSchool. The case studies show the programs' potential and possible problems with their implementation. Furthermore, the presentation discusses some of the questions emerging from implementing the emancipatory strategy: negotiating the programs among all its stakeholders. The presentation argues for an open-minded, eclectic approach to ESE respecting various forms of power distribution in the programs, supporting the co-existence of competing approaches, and allowing the field to reflect and develop.