The Great Debate

It seems like with every environmental event, speaker, conference, article, etc., there is always a conflict between small, individual action and big, national/international changes. Thomas Friedman in his book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded often spoke of his belief that things like "200 Easy ways to go green" are hurting the movement. He wrote that right now we are having a "green party" when we need an all-out revolution that requires legislation and big political action. I have heard Mike Tidwell of the Chesapeake Climate Action network speak twice now, and both times he has mentioned that there is a general mindset going that small individual actions are going to solve our crisis, and it's clear that he believes they will not. I will add, however, that Mike Tidwell is an inspiration in his personal efforts to live a carbon neutral lifestyle.

So what happened to "Be the change you wish to see in the world"? Everywhere you go now you see eco-friendly products and energy saving tips and pledges you should be making.... sometimes it makes my head spin! Do these individual steps hurt the movement by making it seem like solving our environmental problems will be easy and pain free? Maybe. But can we have a green revolution without individual steps? No, we can't.



My opinion is that we environmentalists cannot demand the government to change, we cannot demand the world to change, until we change ourselves (like Gandhi said!) So first, yes, we need to buy sustainably made products and we need to make our homes energy efficient and we need to compost and recycle and all that jazz. But here's the catch: it really cannot stop there. This is NOT going to be an easy revolution. Unfortunately, it was easy to get ourselves into this mess but not go get out... kind of like quicksand. And there's a catch because not everyone is like us. If the only people who use CFLs are education, environmentally conscious people like ourselves, we will not solve he problem in a substantial way. That's why we need our government on board, the UN on board, world leaders across the globe on board. To start this revolution, some of the difficult changes will have to be FORCED, not chosen. I know, it's a bit non-democratic.

So I encourage everyone to keep doing what they're doing in terms of personal lifestlye choices- these are absolutely essential. But do not stop there---- we will get nowhere if you do! I am asking you to lobby congress, call up your senator, vote for environmentally conscious politicians, rally, march, and GET THIS LIME REVOLUTION GOING!