Baby Steps, or War-Time Effort?

Today I read two sharply contrasting items. The first was Michael Moore’s vision for what should be done with GM following it’s bankruptcy. The second was Baby Steps to Better Choices, a new blog that (like many others) eases readers into small changes that will help the environment. Baby Steps advocates shunning bottled water to have a ‘huge impact’, while Moore implores us to undertake a wartime effort to remake our transportation system. The Baby Steps approach is less intimidating, perhaps less likely to offend, and may inspire more people to make some change. But this change will be slow, and the impact insufficient. I believe we need to pay attention to both strategies. Let’s do our best to live sustainably as individuals, but not lose sight of the needed large-scale change. Focusing only on small personal changes runs the risk of mollifying us, satisfying our desires to do something, and thereby distracting us from paying attention to the bigger picture. We have a great opportunity right now to remake not only ourselves, but our nation and world.

So what is the bigger picture anyway? What constitutes a ‘huge’ impact exactly? Fifty percent fewer water bottles? Petroleum-free transportation? To make informed decisions, we need to actually look at the numbers behind any choice. This will help us prioritize. We need to get a feeling for what a kilowatt hour of energy is (and a megawatt hour, and a gigawatt hour). That’s great if we have more folks switching to CFLs, driving less, biking more, consuming less and recycling more. We all need to do what we can as individuals, but let’s not lose sight of a holistic, long-term solution. Genuine transition requires more than disconnected individual good choices. We need new systems for living, new ways of doing things. We need compelling incentives and thoughtful policy changes to drive a more unified effort, and to capitalize on the resulting synergy. Moore’s vision for transportation is a good start. It may not be perfect, but his sense of scale is about right. We need better design of systems for producing and consuming energy, agriculture, and other aspects of living, as well as farsighted leadership and insightful policy design that will drive changes in the right direction and at the right pace.

Earlier I advocated declaring an Earth Decade, a time of transition and concerted effort where we get ourselves back on track. Small indivudual changes will help, but the most important thing we can do is help persuade others. We need more citizens who think long-term, who won’t reject a politician’s proposal for higher gasoline and energy taxes (in exchange for lower income taxes). We magnify our influence when our voice is echoed by others and is heard by decision-makers who can set in motion a grand transformation. What a great opportunity to make a better lives for ourselves, and for generations that follow!