Can we really reinvent environmentalism? Can we create a vision of sustainable prosperity powerful enough to capture the world's imagination? Can we reframe the debate around our relationship with the planet? Can we deliver new green technology and innovation to back it up? There are some good reasons to think we can.
First. several prominent environmentalists have delivered stinging rebukes of the workings of the developed world's environmental movement in recent weeks, most famously former Sierra Club president Adam Werbach, who delivered an "autopsy" of the conservation movement.
The time seems right to rethink fundamentals.
Second, it's becoming more and more clear that our impact on the Earth's climate, biodiversity and ecosystem services is more dire than many of us understood, and appears to be accelerating. It is now clear that it is not only possible to trigger environmental collapses, but that we're beginning to see them unfold. That, especially, is Jared Diamond's contention in his latest book, Collapse
"Today, ecocide has come to overshadow nuclear war and emerging diseases as a major threat to global civilization, and it will become acute within the next few decades. We are faced with even more environmental problems than past societies--specifically, human-caused climate change, buildup of toxic chemicals in the environment, energy shortages, and full human utilization of the Earth's photosynthetic capacity--and the risk of such collapses is now a matter of increasing concern. Indeed, collapses have already materialized for Somalia, Rwanda, and some other Third World countries. ..."First, ask some ivory-tower academic ecologist, one who knows a lot about the environment but never reads a newspaper and has no interest in politics, to name the overseas countries facing some of the worst problems of environmental stress, overpopulation, or both. The ecologist would answer, "That's a no-brainer--it's obvious. Your list of environmentally stressed or overpopulated countries should surely include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burundi, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Madagascar, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Rwanda, the Solomon Islands, and Somalia, plus others." Then go ask a First World politician--who knows nothing and cares less about the environment and population problems--to name the world's worst trouble
spots: ... countries that, as a result of those problems of their own, are also creating problems for First World countries, which may end up having to provide foreign aid for them, or may face illegal immigrants from them, or may decide to provide them with military assistance to deal with rebellions and terrorists, or may even have to send in their own troops. The politician would answer, "That's a no-brainer--it's obvious. Your list of political trouble spots should surely include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burundi, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Madagascar, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Rwanda, the Solomon Islands, and Somalia, plus others.""Surprise, surprise: The two lists are the same."
So, there's motive and opportunity: what about means?
That would appear to be arriving. Look at the explosion of interest in bright green technologies in the design professions, in business and in popular culture. From Hollywood to Wall Street to the radical fringe of design innovation, there's a sense that a cultural moment is unfolding. An awareness that sustainability can be cosmopolitan and urban, stylish and dynamic, profitable and progressive.
I know I can provide anecdotal evidence for the trend myself: I've been getting a bunch of calls from journalists and requests to speak to groups in the last month or so. Other allies I've spoken to report a similar buzz. Heck, even the parties are getting better, like the Treehugger launch party the other night, which was jammed with hip, interesting people having a fabulous time and talking about how to change the world.
Having a fabulous time. Changing the world. Isn't that what it's all about?
