Call me a pessimist.
Now, I've always supported most "green" initiatives. I believe that global warming is happening, that it's a bad thing, and that humans are negatively contributing to it. I think we need to find cleaner, better ways of living- green energy, sustainable development, conservation of resources. But- I don't think, despite the latest green fads, that many of these well-intentioned and needed green initiatives are going to happen. It seems like the Green Movement is beginning to wilt.
People have always been concerned with the way we treat the environment- after all, we live in it. To take care of the environment is to take care of ourselves. Then, in the 1960s, environmentalism became really popular. And it experienced another big boost in the first decade of the new millennium. Now, with a global recession, ideas once worshipped at the green altar are being forgotten, delayed, or just flat out discredited. In a way, the Green Movement of the last 10 years was fueled by optimism and idealism- and I applaud that. But, we just got a whopping dose of reality.
Take, for instance, hybrid vehicles. Sales have slumped. Gas is no longer expensive, and people just don't care about electric and alternative fuel vehicles anymore. The combustion engine, powered by gritty, greasy fossil fuels, will probably prevail- at least until oil becomes prohibitively expensive again (such as when it runs out...). The point is, we all thought that we were on the verge of starting a green revolution that would change the way we consume energy by revamping the automobile. Now, it looks like the car isn't going to change significantly any time soon. Bye-bye, "green revolution."
Besides, even if we did manage to make the shift from gasoline to hydrogen or electric power, how is that any better? There is no easy clean way to make hydrogen, and those batteries are made out of heavy metals, and you can bet their production is not healthy for the environment. These ideas, when subject to scrutiny, aren't very good.
And speaking of alternative fuels, they too have been dealt a serious blow. The law of unintended consequences is smacking them with a vengeance. According to the nonprofit anti-hunger organization Food First, the 83% increase in food prices over the last three- yes, merely three- years is partially due to the fact that acreage formerly dedicated to food production is now being used to grow plants for biofuels. The decrease in the supply of food is driving the prices up. Should we transform our dependence on fossil fuels, or starve the world's poor to death? Once again, here we have another subpar green idea.
Wind power looks like it might be going the way of hydroelectricity: it was originally touted as a fossil fuel-free way of generating power, but the costs end up causing the projects to fall out of favor. Even the best wind turbine can convert wind into energy only at dismal rates- if the wind is blowing. The unreliability of wind and solar power means that they have to be backed up by more reliable sources of power, running at low capacity at all times should there be a sudden drop in electricity production. Basically, they need "energy insurance" at all times. And that insurance has to come from the coal power plants these renewable power sources are supposed to replace. Over and over again, these green ideas don't seem to be helping to change anything at all.
And then there's the political side of it all. It is totally unrealistic to expect developing countries to forgo with the traditional (and most effective) route to industrialization (expanding production with carbon-spewing factories and gas-guzzling machines) in favor of the green way. Developed nations, from the EU to the US and Japan (host of the Kyoto environment treaties) are behaving in a hypocritical and oppressive way when they tell developing countries to cut back on carbon emissions when that's exactly what powered our own industrial revolutions. One is tempted to speculate that "green treaties" are just a front for the latest means the global North uses to exploit the South and keep them in a dependent position on the world economic totem pole.
Sure, I'm being quite cynical right now, but I do the best I can. I recycle. I unplug stuff when I'm not using it. I turn out the lights. But the truth is, that's not going to do anything. Despite all this, I can't help but think of the futility of it all. The principle behind actions like these is valuable, but the results aren't very impressive. After all, I can turn out my lights or replace them with compact bulbs, but all my electricity is coming from the nearest coal power plant regardless. We need new ideas that produce meaningful results.
I guess my message is fairly blunt. To all you greenies out there: expand your thinking and come up with some meaningful ideas to enact our much needed environmental revolution. The idealism of old isn't helping us, and the green movement is entering a comatose. Your- our- previous ideas have run out of (10% ethanol) gas.
Nukes!