Let's keep it that way.

Andrew Eisenberg
The gateway project is wrong---http://www.liveableregion.ca/

I just have to say, I have never heard such a pathetic, wussy approach to climate change. I mean, I know his music is weak...but 'light green'???!!! Hell, this isn't green, it's feel-good consumerism where you drive your SUV, bring a canvas bag and feel good about yourself. I mean lifestyle changes are only a small part of the community and legislative action that is necessary. This is actually not a step forward, but rather two steps backward. Instead of calling for the vision and leadership to make a crisis into an opportunity to build a better world, people will feel satisfied because they sorted their newspaper from their empty tuna cans. This type of celebrity 'endorsement' hurts us more than it helps.

I hate "Waiting on the World to Change." What an anthem for our times.

Waiting ain't gonna get it, Mayer.

Mayer seems to suffer from an inability to apply himself when it comes to practically everything he does.  Here is a person who has the potential to play quality music (he's pretty skilled at guitar, but doesn't challenge himself), and instead decides to sing and record pure fluffy crap.  It looks like he takes this watered-down approach with morals as well as music.  If only it were possible to offset moral lethargy - or even bad taste!

Hey Man!!! It ain't easy being green!!!!

You know I only listen to John when my 5 year old niece and 2 year old nephew are in the car with me. They like their music as sweet as their cereal.

Let's take him as seriously as he takes the environment.

Wow, now i get him and Jessica Simpson. He's just brilliant- imagine, The Third Side of this issue! Thanks, John!  We were just waiting (waiting!) for someone to enlighten us.

well, I was talking a lot today, so thanks John Mayer.  I am now speechless.

Paddy A

...but then what do you expect from a guy who makes a mint off a limp piece of apathetic re-hash called, ironically enough, "Waiting for the world to change" which is basically just a rip off of 2 soul classics--namely Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" and Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" (play them back to back to back).  Same old same old, just more watered down...kind of like 'light green' if you will.

This story brings together two things I've read that are important to me. One is a comment by Daniel Quinn (who is, I recognize, somewhat polarizing on this site) in which he suggests that no amount of new policies or policy changes will ever change the world. What changes the world is changed minds. Once minds are changed policies literally can't keep up.

The other is from Michael Pollen's "The Omnivore's Dilemma." Pollen quotes Gene Kahn, the founder of Cascadian Farms (for those who don't know, think industrial organic), as claiming that everything new in the world eventually reverts back to (or is absorbed by) the way things have always been. He's basically justifying the mixed benefits of industrial organic farming by saying if organic farming hadn't incorporated standard industrial agriculture practices it would have died out.

I think Quinn is right and therefore Kahn is right most of the time, too (although I also think Kahn is a post-hippie, rich, cynic). In other words, in the absence of changed minds, even great ideas eventually come to resemble everything that's come before. But sometimes things come along, changing so many minds, that the extant paradigm fails and something wholly new comes into being. Between occasional spells of despair, confusion, and hopelessness (which I ponder on public transportation) I'm hopeful that enough minds are changing that we're nearing a paradigm shift. And maybe "Light Green" is one part of changing minds. Each of us changing one thing is good. Especially when you consider that a great many of us will change a great many things. There is no one solution to the problem of climate change. And my guess is that changing one thing builds the momentum for making more changes. I couldn't name two songs by John Mayer but his thoughts, directed at an apatheic audience (i.e. not Gristmilligans), are not as bad as you think (I think).

A typical American is responsible for the production of more than ten times the GHG of the typical Indian.  Still think your unfortunate?  You're fabulously wealthy compared to a billion people on this planet.  We're screwed!

I honestly don't see the point of berating someone who is trying to accomplish (albeit in a small way) the same goals you guys are striving for. A few weeks ago there was an article that applauded walmart's failure to succeed in bringing organics to the masses, so the question begs: why? If Walmart were indeed able to bring good quality organics to everyone at great prices, wouldn't the world be a better place? If Mayer's fans all went out and purchased energy efficient bulbs would the world not be greener? Yes, indeed it would. Instead of ragging on people who are trying to do good (I'm not arguing that Walmart is at all altruistic) maybe you can throw in some suggestions on how everyone can take it a step further. Just because my new clothes and shoes are now, for the most part, are from sustainable resources doesn't mean the guy getting an energy efficient appliance isn't doing good. If I were you guys, I'd tell him that he is a nature f-up... thereby doing no one any good.

Thank you, John Mayer, for being naive, because you help me to shine out. I'm profound, have 10 - 15 Phd's, effervesce eco virtue to the point God can't stand me, and it took me centuries to come down to your level and speak to you. (Darned if I know how to get back.)

Just goes to show, if someone else is wrong, I must be RIGHT!

I like your music, anyway, John, and it's a good thing your critics in Grist don't make any. (I was imperfect once, too).

Say, Gristofuddies, if I make a biodegradable split-top Papal hat, will I be saintly acceptable to you? I just know I have virtue inside me somewhere!

I don't have much to say because I took the time to say it briefly.--Shorty.

John's song, Waiting on the world to change, IMHO, isn't something he's ADVOCATING...it's simply a statement of the attitude of his generation.  And they've got a point.  They watched their formerly hippie parents turn money greedy and spoil their children with wealth while ignoring so many of the things they've known since they were young.  For example:  remember 30 years ago when we all started using canvas bags at the grocery store?  Most people have no idea where those bags went after that month or two of enthusiasm.  They just stopped using them.  Imagine where we'd be if we'd all stuck with it...

And his approach to 'light green,' again IMHO is commendable.  Few people can afford to completely remodel my home this summer so it runs on wind power, get rid of that gas guzzling SUV that they still owe $30k on and trade it in for a hybrid, quit the job that brings their commute to two hours every day and buy only organic, locally produced food and clothing.  Not all at once.  (I'm not talking about the John's Mayers of the world...I'm talking about the rest of us.)

But by asking people to pick ONE thing to do now, make a habit of and then pick one more thing, he's offering an alternative for those people who are finally thinking that they should do something to help the environment.

My first step was to buy a hybrid when I needed a new car.  The 'green' and 'tree-hugger' teasing went on for months.  Now everyone in my office is starting to consider better gas mileage for the sake of the environment rather than just their pocket books, even while I'm on to bigger and better environmental improvements (which I no longer get teased about).  It takes a while for thick skin to develop and it takes a while for others to see the value in our environmental message.  

We should applaud every attempt at becoming greener as one in a series of steps that we all must eventually take. Life is a journey...we all start where are at and take one step at a time. After all...judging by the prices of organic foods at MY grocer, it may be a while before I can afford to switch.

Kathy

I strive to reduce my impact in all the major areas: diet, transportation, fashion, housing, family size, etc. but I recognize that not everybody is in a position to do the same.  However, if you do choose "just one thing" I think you should make it an action that has significant impact on the environment, more of an impact than just light bulbs or plastic bags. Like reducing your air travel by half, bike commuting 3 out of 5 days, eating vegetarian 4 of 7 days or down-sizing your living space.  If people make lots of little changes, but continue doing all the big eco-sins, little will change, and it will send the message to our leaders that we're not ready for big changes in policy.  

That said, I do applaud any celebrity that speaks out in support of taking action, any action, on climate change. I guess the sooner we make the little things, like using plastic bags instead of re-usable bags at the grocery store, taboo, the sooner we can make the big ticket things, like private jets, McMansions, SUVS, fur coats, blood diamonds, and meat-heavy diets, taboo.

Perfection is the enemy of the good!

For someone who speaks to a legion of apathetic and disaffected teenagers and the like, what he said isn't entirely awful.

He's not saying "too-much-caring-is-square"...that interpretation is merely defensive, as are most of the comments castagating the guy.  Instead he's saying "let's ease into this"...that way the message can carry over to people who don't attach a lot of emotion to the issue, or even people whose parents have been browbeating them on the conservative side of the argument.

Put another way, his suggestion is "you can start making a difference without adopting this issue as a crusade."

It's the middle that swings things in modern culture, and chastising them for starting to see your way in entirely counterintuitive.

BioD, that photo is priceless.

Little Dog actually lifts her leg when she pees, which is one bit of evidence we have that she is lesbian.  Another is that when she was a puppy, her favorite chew-toy was a stuffed toy pliers.

Chickens are our cousins! So are other sensitive animals! Enough is enough! No more factory farms!

First Jessica Simpson, now a wimpy approach to saving the environment? I really had higher expectations back in the "Room for Squares" days. John Mayer is trying to play it safe and have it both ways....just like how he claimed to not want too much attention, yet frolicks with Simpson. I wish he would be decisive and stop taking important issues so "light." Basically he is saying I can drive my SUV as long as I feel good about my hemp sweater as the end of the day.

HannahB

Hey, all:

Yes, he has a wimpy voice, his statement is sappy, and he did/does date an airhead for the ages, but his statement is actually correct.  Everything, EVERYTHING, starts small, and it is the cumulative effect that has the lasting benefit.  And slow change is easier to adapt to and incorporate into our everyday lives.  So just do one beneficial thing for now, then do another and another.  And the broader the appeal the broader the benefit.

I think that is the message, and one we can all use and respect.

David
Sustainability For Life

Messages done with sustainable energy, with Wind and Sun!

I understand the previous statement, and maybe the Jessica Simpson banter is completely irrelevent, but since when does anything light work? Isn't it usually fat asses drinking diet soda and croaking hags smoking camel lights. Come on this is a pressing issue, calling for radical change. Although we may have to ease into this new lifestyle, I think his justification for still driving an SUV is lame. He is following a be an environmentally aware trend.

HannahB

More or less, this is where I think MOST people are.

They sympathize with being green.

And for the things that are really simple, and save them money, they will do it with only minor advertisement.

But overall, they aren't going to change much.
They aren't going to SPEND any of their focus on being green.  Won't even think about it.

So the only way you are going to get through to MOST people is to make being green, Easy. Cheaper. and Better than the status quo.

Hey, all:
Hey, Hannah:

Okay, in the spirit of gender fairness and equality, maybe John Mayer is an airhead too, and his relationships are irrelevant.  The point of sodas, beers, and butts is valid, and there is an element of self congratulatory symbolism which does no good at all.  It even is self-deluding.  

Still, we gotta take our converts and allies whenever and wherever we can find them and cultivate them and educate them and bring them along.  Best not castigate them 'til they get pissed off and tell us to shove it.   Some who start out "lite" will eventually move much further along the spectrum.  At least Mayer is now on the spectrum and is talking to his audience about it.  I know I have done a great deal to reduce my own footprint, but I know there are people who are way ahead of me.  As I and millions of others progress, we move further along the spectrum.  And some who exist and advocate for the radical end help by showing there is a radical end.    

Now if I could just arrange to be paid carbon credits directly, I would be very happy!

David
Sustainability For Life

Messages done with sustainable energy, with Wind and Sun!  

Sustainability For Life:

I think your points are good, despite my slightly more intense approach.

HannahB

Kathy's comment mentioned that John's "Waiting on the World to Change" represents the attitude of his apathetic, disaffected generation.  Perhaps I'm alone in this, but I take the song as a blatantly sarcastic statement about the various excuses that people make for their apathy, or at least a realistic assessment of the challenges that face anyone (who isn't as wealthy as Mayer) who tries to actually change current policies.

Regarding "light green," I'd like to mention something John Mayer has going for him.  To a reasonably large chunk of the young adult demographic (he sold 750,000 copies of his last cd and grossed $24 million during one tour), he's actually popular and appealing.  Environmental lifestyle changes aren't an easy sell to my generation unless they're trendy, and Al Gore certainly isn't turning any 20 year-old heads.

This article could serve well to disillusion anyone who believes that a pop star can single-handedly save the planet.  For the rest of us, perhaps we can recognize the value of putting environmentalist ideas (however minimal) into mainstream packaging.

Whether Mayer advocates using reusable shopping bags despite driving an SUV, or imitating Judith Levine's no-shopping experiment for five years, isn't it better to have influential people on our side than not?