It's Not Easy Being Green

by: david bozeman | published: 11 05, 2009

A recent feature story inadvertently illustrated the sinister extremes of the environmental movement. The AP profiled a New York City couple who had spent a year trying to reduce their net environmental impact to almost zero. "They stopped using anything disposable or buying anything new. . . they had given up elevators. They went everywhere by bicycle, bought food directly from local farmers, had even sworn off toilet paper."

The one-year experiment is now the subject of a documentary and book. The story details how the couple and their three-year old daughter were predictably changed, and it is littered with matter-of-fact references to the "devastation wrought by worldwide human consumption" and the "growing awareness of. . . the damage our lifestyles cause."

The story ends with the wife deciding not to buy a dishwasher -- at least not for now -- lamenting the huge box and packaging. She also feels a "weird feeling of grief" before boarding a plane to visit her parents. The husband couldn't bring himself to go, though he now flies to promote his book.

Their devotion to living green is undoubtedly extreme, thus their approving national profile, and one could argue that environmentalists are only proposing modest day-to-day adjustments to fight global warming. Still, an unintentional sadness permeates the whole dreary piece, leaving the reader to wonder if modern environmentalism doesn't harbor an agenda less concerned with human needs than with the aim of building an American socialist utopia with the same world significance of, say, Sweden.

An ideological movement that instills guilt for boarding a plane to visit family cannot be predicated on human well-being. 'Carbon credit' stands to replace 'frequent flyer miles' in the traveler's lingo (thanks, also, to Cap & Trade). How far is modern culture from stigmatizing SUV ownership and traditional light bulbs the way it once did pornography and pre-marital sex?

Planet Green is a channel -- not a show but a channel -- devoted to, you guessed it. Their fun-filled line-up, including actor Ed Begley, Jr. competing for the honor of greenest household, imbues their mission with the civic virtue of voting or feeding the hungry. Likewise, the Discovery Channel will launch Planet Green, expected to reach 50 million households, continuing a trend that saw thousands of cities worldwide earlier this year go dark for Earth Hour. By green standards, can one not reasonably ask if the darkened jungles of South America are morally, albeit not economically, superior to the glaring nighttime skylines of New York or Chicago?

Meanwhile, in a story known but to aviation enthusiasts, in late October United Airlines retired its last Boeing 737, opting to use Airbus aircraft on its short and medium-range routes. Still a mainstay of the airline industry in its 40th year, the 737's benefit to humankind has been incalculable. Because of passenger jets, journeys that once took weeks or months, if taken at all, are now completed in mere hours. Automobiles, elevators, air conditioners, etc., represent not disposable luxuries or necessary evils but staples for better living. Technology and innovation solve problems, including, yes, pollution, and the most fuel-inefficient 737 has benefited humanity far more than cloth shopping bags and copies of An Inconvenient Truth.

A culture dedicated to the betterment of human-kind emphasizes individual freedom and encourages technological advancement. Granted, the green movement will never eliminate jet airplanes and dishwashers, but neither should it be allowed to instill fear and guilt for their use. Furthermore, it is as true for cultures bent on their own demise as it is for individuals: Be careful what you wish for. . .

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