Thursday, December 23, 2004

Let the Discussion Continue...

Jacqui at Enviropundit has opened up the mikes, so to speak, on the economics of environmentalism issue. It's an issue that needs discussion. You know where I stand -- Jacqui's likely a bit to my right, though I think we're largely still on the same page.

As I've recommended many times (and already mentioned once today), I think Paul Hawken's The Ecology of Commerce is a thought-provoking mind-blowing introduction to the concept. Other books like Ray Anderson's Mid-Course Correction, and Natural Capitalism by Hawkens, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins expand upon these concepts. A newer addition to the fold, but no less important, is William McDonough and Michael Braungart's Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things.

I suppose much of the frustration I'm experiencing (and I know it shows sometimes) has to do with the turtle's pace at which our political and corporate leaders are beginning to think about these issues. None of the above books call for "revolution" in the leftist sense of the term, but rather a reconsideration the concepts of capitalism and the market. They all criticize contemporary corporate culture and behavior, but also insist that business is the one institution able to address our environmental problems quickly and creatively. None present a "freeze in the dark" Luddism present in much earlier environmental literature; in fact, they generally claim that expecting people to sacrifice a high standard of living would likely doom any such movement that calls for it.

I guess I'm impatient... but I really do believe that the common ground is there; we just have to recognize it and start talking... So,... let's start talking...