I’m not making an ideological argument here or manufacturing an excuse for American super-consumers, with our Hummers and McMansions. I’m not offering a proper answer to the puzzle proffered above either, unfortunately, but just stating the rarely acknowledged facts: Probably there should be an emissions-free car available for $2,500 (or an organic granola bar for 52 cents), but, at the moment, there isn’t. There must be a way to reconcile mass car ownership with global warming, but, at the moment, we haven’t found it. There is no profound reason that good environmental policies have to come into conflict with economic growth, but they often do. In many countries, the desire not to be poor is stronger than the desire to breathe clean air. Look at photographs of Beijing’s smog if you don’t believe me.
If we want to consume it, make it, eat it, drive it, there must be a way to do so. There must be a way we can keep living oblivious lives without guilt that those lives depend on other people not being able to do those things. Right?
Bleh.
