Mother nature...death becomes her? The Death of Enviornmentalism

I'll admit it...Compared to Derek, I'm not the most engaged when it comes to environmentalism. Well, I take that back. I take out the recycling sometimes -- right, Derek? Anyway, sure, I care about our planet. I like nature. Pollution sucks, nature is nice. But when we're talking about the whole planet, well, "saving it" sounds a bit daunting. And when there are smaller-scale things to think about -- I'm talking about those things that, when ignored, will land me in hot water (e.g. paying bills, calling my mom, etc.) -- the environment, global warming, etc. isn't going to be the first thing to keep me up at night.

On Tuesday, Oct. 16, we attended Policy and a Pint: The Death of Environmentalism, hosted by 89.3 the Current and the Citizen's League at the Varsity Theater. First of all, let me say that the Varsity is a sweet venue with a hip enough atmosphere to make any topic interesting (note to my college econ professor...). Luckily, the atmosphere was simply a bonus to what turned out to be a pretty interesting discussion. The speaker, Michael Shellenberger, and his coauthor, Ted Nordhaus, recently came out with a book called The Breakthrough in which they assert that "the old ways of talking about pollution and acid rain will never change how people go about their lives, and that 'environmentalism' has to die in order for real change to happen to protect our water, air and land." They believe controlling global warming won't happen with more calls to end pollution; instead the government must make substantial investments in new technology (solar, etc.) and new models, ways of thinking, policies, etc. that take into account economics, job creation and people's quality of life.

It seems that the idea of expanding technology instead of focusing on limiting/restricting carbon emissions through pollution is gaining wider traction when I look in the paper, watch the news and listen to what others are saying, like on Tuesday. And it makes sense to me when I think about human nature...who responds to restrictions and limits? Shellenberger talked about the limitless potential of humans to create and innovate. Harnessing that power toward technologies that create clean energy breaks out of that "restriction" mentality and focuses on moving forward. The difference is subtle, but it’s there. The only trick, though, will be for government to carry through on the idea by backing it financially, of course. Definitely a topic to keep in mind heading into November 2008...

So maybe I'm more of an environmentalist than I thought. Better yet, maybe I just needed to change my thinking to become part of a new kind of enviornmentalism. I think that's what Tuesday did for me...definitely a worthwhile event.