There are three types of industries in the environmental space:
Essentially, what we have is an ongoing fight between those industries. #1 and #2 depend on each other. You have nothing to clean up if you haven’t dirtied the air or water. #3 is the newbie challenger of a few decades that says “wait, what if what we are doing is more than just dirtying, we are killing its ability to clean itself to a point where the earth is liveable for us?”.
So when I break down the reality like this, people understand that its a lot about where the money goes. For example, many people don’t want wars. Well, I happen to agree. Here’s a thought, what will the hundreds of millions of people who currently work for any industry related to military do when there are no wars? If you have no military bases, think of all of the suppliers that go bankrupt or forced to find new clients. This reality is not limited by any border.
In the case of our environment, the oil and oil clean up industries work hand in hand. The Third Man/Woman out is the one that is disrupting the old reality. The clean energy, clean water industries are trying to say that beyond cleanliness is an issue of whether or not our kids will have a planet that they can inhabit. I have said before, we are not required to save the planet for the planet’s sake. It is perfectly capable of surviving well beyond our departure. All we can do is extend our lease or diminish it.
Say we accept the argument that climate change is a natural cycle, and that are all doomed in 100 years. Many are saying “why spend money on that, let the next generation figure it out”. Well nice hand off from our parents…thanks for nothing! Yet what if man-made climate change is reducing that period in which we have still time to reverse our own effects and then determine if they are enough to keep earth as inhabitable? For many, this concept is too vague, its too elitist, its too liberal, its too “big brother”. The reality is that we simply must do what we can to prevent further erosion of our atmosphere and invest where needed to reduce the growth in temperature.
As far as I am concerned, if you didn’t know you were negatively affecting our lease, then OK. Now you do. What you gonna do about it?