Al Gore is wrong (for me), Part II: Investing in a bright green future
In the previous installment of this multi-part essay, I suggested that we focus our environmental attention on hope rather than fear. I argued that Americans are drawn to possibility rather than pessimism and that our individual dealings with climate change should reflect that reality. And of course, I’m not alone in thinking that. In fact, there is a growing cadre of new environmentalists promoting the same bright green future I favor.
Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, recent authors of Break Through, are two such men. The two reached a level of fame — well, actually, infamy — among old guard environmentalists when they published the thought-provoking essay, “The Death of Environmentalism,” back in 2004.
That original essay argued persuasively that the traditional environmentalists’ decision to brand the environment as a special interest — as a “thing” — that must be protected by legislative policy (i.e., “the politics of ‘no’”) has backfired. And despite this backfiring, the movement hasn’t changed its fundamental approach to “saving the environment” in three decades. read more