Green Struggle

The "Green" hysteria that surrounds us all these days can be maddening, especially when you see so-called environmentalists driving their automobiles to "green events." There is hypocrisy aplenty in the green movement. Al Gore burning tens of thousands of gallons of hydrocarbons as he jets from one PowerPoint presentation to another, for instance. Chicago Alderman Joe Moore driving two blocks to his office, for example. And so on. An excellent opinion piece by Pamela Van Giessen gives a realpolitik view of this. Van Giessen is a leader of the Rogers Park Garden Group, an environmentally friendly gaggle of gardeners who beautify the neighborhood without being preachy about it. An excerpt from Van Giessen's opinion piece, in the July 30 edition of the News-Star: Are we being a little insensitive when we suggest that the single mom with two jobs take money and time out of her day to "be green"? Isn't life enough of a struggle for a low income person whether they live in Chicago or Mumbai? Recently, policy wonks have suggested that the government buy old cars at above market rates to get these pollution monsters off the road. It sounds brilliant but wouldn't we be better off lifting low income peoples out of poverty so they can afford hybrid cars or better jobs closer to home, along with other green choices? It's a stretch to see how paying a low income person even 50 percent above the market rate for their clunker will give them enough money to buy (and maintain) a new environmentally friendly car. Full article...