Thursday, June 28, 2007

Hard to measure

Foreign Policy magazine shows a provocative graph ( below)
At Greenpeace, we spun a similar story in the No Fish No Forest No Future campaign, back in the 1990s. Ecology makes long term financial sense. What was missing from the message was the reluctance we have to think about others, the reluctance to think long term, and the gavel ( or hammer) of the state. The result: a message that was mostly all talk.



















"The environment" is a host that suffers from the problem of the commons" though it is better for all of us if we treat each other with respect, it may be to my advantage to take all I can for myself and disregard others.

To support govt mandate of environmental protection, special interest groups need to come forward and, like the English landowners of the 1770's, insist on the new boundaries. These groups need to prove they are or will be losing money as a result of things-as-is. It can't be "all talk" - they need to hammer this point home with actionable threats.

In the end politicians who enact effective enviro policy get to be hammers, not nails.
Without action to back it up, this article too is "all talk."

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