National Geographic GreendexWith NatGeo releasing the results of its annual Greendex survey today, I’d like to point out that polls like this are really an opportunity for America to shine.
Take, for example, the question about public transit: Not only did we score the lowest percentage on public transit use every day, but we also scored the highest percentage of folks taking public transit never. Talk about kicking the competition’s ass at both ends of the spectrum.
We’ve also got the lowest score on the green housing index (despite our best efforts to show up the neighbors with big green additions to our McMansions!). And we might want to rethink that whole Lay’s as local thing, seeing as how we’re ranked lowest in the list of countries eating locally grown food and lord knows we eat a lot of chips.
There’s more to the report than these few categories—you can read all 296 pages of it here [PDF]—but if you want the short version, here it is: developing nations like India and Brazil have the highest (read: greenest) Greendex numbers, while Canadians and Americans round out the bottom ... overall and in pretty much every category (way to be consistent!).
OK, enough sarcasm; turns out it’s my job to wrangle out a nugget of hope here, however tiny, so the good news is that we are improving. Sure, everyone else is too—so in the long-standing American tradition that is Always Wanting to Be Number One, we are, perhaps, not doing so well—but at least we are trying. We are trying, aren’t we?
Perhaps with a little hard work (Americans are known for that, too, aren’t we?), we can aim to move up a spot next year on the Greendex. Surely, we can beat those Canucks, eh?
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Comments
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Delay And Deny Posted 1:07 am
15 May 2009
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Noah Pollock Posted 12:19 pm
16 May 2009
These types of metrics are central in the field of ecological economics. Ecological Economics was established to fill the growing need to integrate the study and management of “nature’s household†(ecology) and “humankind’s household†(economics). Ecological Economics is the name given to the effort to transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries in order to address the interrelationships between ecological and economic systems in a broad and comprehensive way.
In response to the comment above, while certainly rural homesteads have their place, it is simpy unrealistic to expect urban areas - where most people live these days - to disappear. Instead, we need a comprehensive approach to redesigning theway we live given the confines of our preexisting economy and infrastructure. Public transit must be part of this picture.
Those interested in these topics should consider the summer and online courses in ecological economics offered by the University of Vermont's Institute for Global Sustainability - learn more at http://learn.uvm.edu/igs
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Tammi Posted 3:02 pm
18 May 2009
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