We're still going nowhere

            Since its inception, optimism has been a great deal of optimism associated with the movement.  The entire foundation of environmentalism is that there is a problem, but that if we all work together, we can build a better world.  However, the naivety associated with this idea is staggering.  There has been very little major environmental protection, restoration, preservation, or any other sort of care for the environment itself, and with very few exceptions, such protection has been very minor.

            First, the good.  There has been some progress on the air quality front.  Chlorofluorocarbons are no longer in widespread use thanks to the Montreal Protocol.  Emissions standards for fossil fuels have gotten better, particularly in Europe (see 1950s England for a point of reference.)  Governments have started subsidizing clean energy and sustainable housing.  But for all this, nothing has really been accomplished.

            The best example of this is as follows: There has been much ado on the internet (and to a lesser extent the media at large) about how efficient Scandinavia and the rest of western Europe have become.  It is seen as a “beacon of hope,” proof that a greener world is really possible.  But that’s all it is: proof of concept.  It shows that one small, (relatively) lightly populated area with a very powerful economy can become semi-sustainable.  What it doesn’t take into account is the relocated impacts of an area like Sweden.  Its not that they don’t consume, its just that they are small enough that the can outsource their consumption (and therefor pollution.)  For comparison, look at china.  A popular statistic is that China builds a new coal plant every 2 weeks.  China is still produced 9 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2011 alone.  For those with better things to do, that makes up nearly 1/3^rd of global emissions.  Keep in mind that the entire reason that china produces so much CO2 is to fuel economic growth to allow the people there to live more like us in the United States- and we produce more then twice as much CO2 per capita as China.  And that isn’t even beginning to take into account India.  Worldwide, carbon dioxide production is still accelerating.

            Aside from carbon dioxide, there is still the crippling global dependence on oil, much of which comes from the unstable middle east, exponential population growth, loss of biodiversity, desertification, increase in very harmful methods of resource extraction (fracking, mountaintop removal, etc.) and a whole host of other problems that we have done very little if anything to correct.  But its all going to be ok as long as we can feel good about the tiny wind turbines we put on our roofs that can barely power a reading lamp, or the hybrid cars we buy so we can show off to our friends.  Its still consumerism and it is still contributing to the problem.  What we actually need are large-scale changes with massive financial, popular, and political support.  But that isn't going to happen until something so spectacular happens that it cannot be ignored.  We are in free fall and it is time for people to wake up and smell the ashes, because if we keep going the way we have been, this planet is going to be a lot less pleasant in 50 years.