The Green Lantern website

There is a weekly column in the Washington Post about environmental questions and since I had a question about recycling bags, I tracked it down. The website has a bunch of interesting articles for your occasional perusal.

Competing Environmental Interests

As sustainability issues have begun to play a much greater role, it seems it has become more common for green interests to have to compete against one another. Take this example from a New York Times article, "As Wind Power Grows, a Push to Tear Down Dams."

The Pacific Northwest has always had a higher percentage of renewable energy than the rest of the nation. Much of it comes from hydroelectric dams. Recently, there has been an increased push for additional renewables such as wind power. Because hydroelectric dams can be so damaging to local environments, particularly impacting Salmon populations, some environmental groups argue that new wind turbines will allow for the phase-out of dams. However, others, including the power companies, claim that doing so would only hinder their ability to provide "green" power.

It seems to me that we as a society are still unwilling to make the major sacrifices needed. Very rarely do these discussions center around becoming more efficient with the energy we already have. Creating renewable energy sources is a great way to slow the increase of coal and oil consumption. But an increasing human population and an increasing consumeristic culture around the world make me worry that major changes are needed. Do we have the capacity to make these drastic changes as a species? I hope so.