Change is Never Easy

In Going Green? Easy Doesn't Do It Michael Maniates criticizes elites in the environmental movement and the government for "selling us short" on solutions to the critical environmental issues facing us today. He argues that the challenges we face today are a zero sum game, and sugar coating the outcome with feel-good, easy solutions to our problems can do more harm then good if it creates complacency within the public.

The main issue that Maniates brings up is the widespread dissemination of tips to people through books, television, and even government websites. Each list of "Earth friendly" tips is remarkably similar and usual includes recycling, taking shorter showers and installing efficiency measures in the home such as CFB's and weatherized windows.

As important as these practices are, they will only stem the ecological damage occurring to our planet. Maniates does not argue that we should stop recycling and aiming for efficiency; he sees these practices as essential to forming a civic environmentalism within the public psyche.

The real culprit according to the article is green washed products. Essentially unnecessary consumer items that claim to have low or no impact on the environment but which still require energy and resources to create. We should ignore these minor changes to lifestyle and habit and instead focus our effort collectively on revolutionizing our agricultural, transportation and energy sectors, by far the largest contributors to our ecological footprint.

The greatest changes in society have occurred around broad social movements, sacrifices are often made but the end goal is reached. Maniates points to the sacrifices made during other great moments in our history, the revolution, the civil right movement. The leaders of these movements did not ask us to shop wisely or be more efficient, they asked to change, which is what we need to do to make sure our planet continues to support us. The challenges we face will be difficult, but together we will be able to overcome them.