In my last piece, I encouraged everyone to think globally, but to act locally. I believe in this because it is too easy to get wrapped up in the "big" issues and forget to take any meaningful steps at a local level.
I have several examples at hand taken from a recent Time Magazine article, list actually, their top 10 green stories of the year. While this list is compelling and the stories make good copy, what does it have to do with us, or us with it? Let's try some of them on.
The election of Barack Obama. Obama has proposed the creation of a green economy at the heart of his economic recovery. But conservation budgets are being cut across the country. Right now we are losing the conservation infrastructure critical to the local implementation of our own green resolutions.
Congress passes renewable energy credits. Excellent. However, these credits still seem to be engineered for large scale industrial projects. (I've already spoken my piece on ethanol.) Tailor them to the individual homeowner or local entities, where small groups with a stake in the outcomes can get their hands around them.
The offshore drilling debate. Until we change our consumption habits (and this will require time-warp cultural change), the oil crisis is real and looms larger. No amount of debate or drilling will accomplish what we can do by just using less.
The failure of Warner-Lieberman carbon cap and trade legislation. The bill fell a dozen votes short on the floor with the Bush administration firmly opposed. I'm honestly not sure on this one. The carbon cap and trade is a shell game and doesn't address the real emissions. But the local impact on rural economies could be huge if green spaces gain tax exempt or investment status as "carbon banks."
The Environmental Protection Agency puts new regulations on coal plants. Excellent. However, clean coal is still in its infancy, nuclear is only clean if you ignore the consequences of an accident and oh yeah, the contamination and waste. We can't agree on how to site windmills, build dams or cut wood, and we've been disagreeing for at least a generation. As above, using less while finding real alternatives?
The ethanol bubble bursts. Gas and fuel prices dropped (conservation played a role in this), and the bottom fell out of the ethanol market. Excellent. However, all the wrong reasons are in play here. The alternative energy business as a whole is fully at the mercy of the whims and manipulations of the market and of energy politics.
Do we want to continue this boom and bust pattern, at ever shorter intervals? If Vermont could be doing things to secure our own energy future, shouldn't we? (More to come on this.)
The polar bear is listed as endangered. Excellent. As an image of global warming, the polar bear gains traction. However, I would much rather do something for endangered working rural Vermonters.
The first CO2 auction. Northeast utilities pay $38.5 million for 12.5 million tons of CO2. Excellent. However, where does the money go? Doesn't it make more sense to spend money on real things? And we all need to take "cradle to grave" responsibility for our consumption habits.
Finally, the Oxford English Dictionary chooses its word of the year: "Hypermiling." This is driving in surges of acceleration/deceleration to improve gas mileage. Can you say "national traffic accident?" Do not do this in front of a truck!
As always, thanks for looking in and somebody shut the lights out when you leave.
Don Wilson is the chairman of the Bennington County Conservation District, whose mission is promoting rural livelihoods and protecting natural resources in Southwestern Vermont.
This column appeared in the Bennington Banner in February 2009, as one of the BCCD's Conservation Currents pieces, a bi-weekly feature written by BCCD board and staff members since August 2006.