23 Jun Green 2.0

Do Austin’s environmentalists lack shared priorities?

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An open letter to my environmental friends: The fundamental threads of our economy are not changing for the sake of environmental sustainability. In this era of hostile politics and financial depression, no one is shutting down a coal plant or a styrofoam factory or building fewer highways for the sake of the environment.

People (the activators of our economy) are pursuing opportunity. Not change. Intentional change, driven by corporate boards and political decision makers and based on the limitations of our ecosystems, would require job restructuring and financial retooling. Who’s doing that? It seems shutting down the bad stuff is being left off all major agendas. At best, Americans are rising to the challenges of today’s environmental concerns by pursuing new enterprises. Profit-driven activity that grows our economy in a more sustainable manner seems to be the thing that’s inching Americans (and the world) away from a future of doom and gloom.

Some supporting examples:

Plastic Bags —
For years, enviros tried to convince other people to use fewer plastic bags at the grocery. In countries like South Africa they were made illegal, but here in the US plastic bag making factories thrived… until recently. All of a sudden the green wave hit high tide and plastic bags were "out." In early 2008 Austin’s own Whole Foods led this major charge with bright, recycled, multi-purpose shopping bags. In short order reusable bags were quickly implemented by virtually every other major retailer. (I have a small canvas bag from Office Depot I treasure in an ironic way… what is that little thing supposed to hold?) Before long companies like Austin’s BlueAvocado were in stores with smart, reusable bagging. My girlfriend — the opposite of an environmentalist — has a set of BlueAvocado bags she uses regularly. Nevertheless, plastic bag making is still a strong business in the USA.

Electricity —
We’ve been told by Al Gore and the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, via their 4th Assessment Report, that unless humans stop burning fossil fuels our world will end within the next 90 years or so. Coal plants are the #1 offender in this future-negative scenario. If the causes of the greenhouse effect, which appear to be destabilizing global climate were listed in order of the top three it might look something like this: #1. Coal plant emissions (electricity), #2. Transportation emissions (land & air), #3. Deforestation. Even though it’s broadly known there are health impacts, economic impacts, social justice impacts, and of course environmental impacts related to each of these economic practices — we the people (aka, ‘we, the economy’) continue supporting businesses that hurt ourselves and our future. We’re not decommissioning anything even as our own lives depend on it. The concept of "environmental sustainability"  is having very little influence over politicians and business leaders, the larger forces of our economy.

Oil —
As the second biggest causor of global warming and now famous for the Gulf spill on American soil, the world’s most incredible business continues to thrive. No one, I mean no one, is talking seriously about using less or replacing oil with bio-fuels, electric vehicles, or better public transportation on a time scale commensurate with the problems we face today. Amazingly, the argument for environmental sustainability or just plain old environmental protection seems to have no significant place in the media’s coverage of Deepwater Horizon. "Green and sustainable" is a vision only a few Americans have, and even fewer share.

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Interestingly 90+% of my environmentalist and Creation Care friends drive gasoline powered cars, fly often, eat primarily non-local food, use mainstream body care and cleaning products, have little or no sustainably-harvested clothing or furnishings, buy ‘new’ not reused, and etc, etc. Frustratingly, most of us speak more often from a place of passion than knowledge when discussing eco issues. Everybody does what they can, but starting with the enviros, we need to look at ourselves — we have a long way to go.

It’s pretty simple. People will do what they believe in, have desire for, have accepted as "part of life," or care about. For most folks, "sustainability" has yet to connect in any of those areas: belief, desire, necessity, passion. Sustainability lingers as "something I should do something about" but don’t know how to easily access or afford. Worse, like a diet or a foreign language sustainability requires disruption, and it’s more complicated…"someday baby, someday." Now imagine you’re running a business or a successful corporation or working within a political system as divided as the one we have today; imagine the kind of consistent effort required of you and your team of changemakers: grace, patience, eloquence, vision, backbone, flexibility, cash..

How will the environmentalists of today tap into the powerful forces of economic growth that govern our reality and transform the common ground that is "growth" into meaningful sustainability? Have enviros lost touch with the urgency of climate disruption? Are environmentalists like me too focused on the eco concern of the moment? Should ‘we, the enviros’ come together to organize a hierarchy of concerns, such as: #1. our planet (ourselves), #2. our health, and then #3. everything else? I don’t know the answer, but I’d like more open dialogue on this, what feels like a stalled effort. Maybe we could start locally. My Green 2.0 point is this: Do we lack shared big picture perspective, organization, and priorities?

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Your comments appreciated.