Green Options

In stead of spilling any more ink writing about Earth Day 2009, I dug up some of the best Earth Day posters from over the years. I’ve done my best to get an even sampling, but as might be expected, the earlier ones were much more difficult to track down (mostly because very few were made).

Carl Pope, the longest-serving Executive Director in the Sierra Club’s storied history, announced today that he will step down from his leadership position

When I heard NPR report that environmentalists were “fuming” over the Salazar appointment as Interior Secretary, I decided to share my thoughts with the Twitterverse and sent out a message that kicked off a chain of events worthy of writing about.

Thousands of anti-nuclear campaigners have assembled along a train route in Germany to protest the annual convoy carrying tons of nuclear waste from France to a storage facility in northeastern Germany.

In what is becoming an annual ritual of civil resistance and direct action in Germany, more than 15,000 anti-nuclear protesters turned out along the route to Gorleben on Sunday—twice the number at a similar protest at the site two years ago—in the largest and most violent anti-nuclear protest in Germany since 2001.

Spoofing on the James Bond 007 brand of spy thrillers, Greenpeace has just launched a new campaign called “Coalfinger,” aimed at stopping the construction of any new coal-fired power plants.

If you are reading this blog, it is likely that you consider yourself “green,” or, at least, you are trying to do your part to be more environmentally minded, environmentally sensitive and environmentally responsible. Whether you are aware of it or not, you are a part of the green movement. And each part makes the green movement what it is — the entity it is — (on the global scale, the national scale, the regional scale, the local scale, and the personal scale).

Throughout the course of our life and our efforts, we have to step back and look at how effective we are at achieving our goals, how far our good intentions are actually taking us, how “green” our lifestyles are. We have to look at how much our green actions are doing to really protect and conserve the environment. At the same time, if we are trying to be a part of this green movement (which is growing in name, in respect, and, to some degree, in overall influence), we have to step back and evaluate the trajectory of the green movement, how effective the overall movement is in making our dreams of a safe, secure, sustainable, lively, and vibrant environment a true reality.

To be honest, I have been involved in the green movement since childhood and am fairly “extreme,” sincere, or devoted in my efforts to be green and to do my part. Nonetheless, I just moved to Poland from the U.S. and I have found that I have habits and ways of thinking that are greatly less sustainable, less environmentally sensitive, than the normal, average Pole who does not have any special care or concern for the environment and may just have the vaguest sense of what the “green movement” or “green living” is.

Why the great disparity in our actions and ways of life, despite the fact that I am the “green”?

Why would some of the nation’s top environmental leaders, activists, and academics be sharing the same stage with some of the most influential and well-known people in music? And why did a sizable portion of the audience consist of unshowered, sleep-deprived, politically active 20 and 30-somethings? In a word, ROTHBURY.

Each year, US nuclear power plants prevent 700 million tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. In order to equal that achievement by reducing emissions from personal automobiles, the owners of 96% of the cars on the road today would have to agree to never drive again. Why then, are so many people in the “Environmental Movement” so firm in their opposition to nuclear power?

This past spring we conducted a reader poll that concluded with some rather unexpected results. Nearly 75 percent of the respondents believe that nuclear power is good because it is a source of “abundant carbon free energy.”

Arguably, April 22, 2008 will pass as a non-event in Africa, because celebrating Earth Day on this day will be a celebration of the ecological disasters and sustainability failures of a continent believed to be the cradle of mankind.

As a dual citizen of both the Earth and Mother Africa, I am inclined to think that 2008 AD should have heralded a better world for every single human being. But, sadly, that is not so. Earth Day 2008 will be a celebration of the ugly in Africa.

For we cannot justify the fact that majority of the world’s poor are Africans, surviving on less that US$ 1 a day, living in gigantic slum neighborhoods awash with tons and tons of filth, without adequate clean water, and without access to basic health care. A great irony for a continent so richly endowed with natural resources.

Dear Readers,

Our goal this week was to help , bring you eye to eye with people of many nationalities to explore what environmental issues motivate each of us to care and inspire us to take action.

In case you missed it or are coming back for more, here’s our week in review:

Sam Aola Ooko offered a Kenyan perspective from the streets of Nairobi.

Pem Charnley reflected on the rise of the Industrial Revolution in the UK and its implications for the world and environment.

Mark Seall went to the Swiss Alps, wondering why the idea of personal responsibility for the environment is lacking, then to the streets of Switzerland for a taste of some real attitude.