What does the green movement mean to you? This may seem like a silly question, but it’s a question I’ve been asking myself lately. There really is no rite answer to this question; it is simply a way of thinking about the hundreds of different things that have become part of the green movement and what is most important in them. An interesting experiment I did was to Google the terms green movement and my hometown and see what comes up. Here in Austin, Texas, this Google search returns a number of interesting results.
The first thing that comes up is an article about a concert celebrating the green movement in Austin. If you know Austin, this makes some sense, as the self-proclaimed music capital of the world, we have a concert for just about everything. The sponsor of this green concert was the Yellow Bike Collective, a local group that advocates for cycling rituals and increasing the ease of cycling through the city. They are a great organization and have done good things for the local cycling community here in Austin, but I don’t know if they would qualify as the epitome of Austin’s green movement in my mind. While increasing the number of people using bicycles as their primary mode of transportation removes cars from the road and decreases pollution, it is only one piece of a big puzzle.
Second on the list is Travis Count Green Party. Clearly, they should be high on the list as they appear to be leaders in the local green movement from a government point of view. However, I was disappointed when I looked at her view and found that none of her top three key values are related to the environment or environmental concerns. Shouldn’t this movement be about the environment more than anything else? Several of their other key values are related to the environment, but they are very vague about exactly where they stand on important environmental issues. The green party seems to be taking things lightly and not sticking to an environment-first, rather environment-fourth platform. While none of its key values is anti-environmental, the green party may not be as green as I would have liked.
In general, someone trying to figure out what the green movement in Austin is all about wouldn’t get a very good picture of the first page of Google search results. They would certainly understand that there are several local groups that support the transport and delivery of bicycles to reduce emissions. You will also find responses from real estate agents to the recently implemented home energy regulations, most of which are critical of the city’s plan to increase energy efficiency. What does this say about our charming little town that likes to think of itself as a paradise for green living in Texas?
I think Austin’s green movement is more than these search results would tell you, and I skipped a short article that talks about Austin as a leader in the green building industry, but the fact remains that the information available online largely it does not. It matches what I think of when I think of the green movement. This is a symptom of increasing ambiguity in the movement and this problem is only going to get worse. With predictions of a “green economy” to come and more money invested in anything that can turn itself into part of the day-to-day green movement, the race is on to get into green goodness.
The green movement, whatever it is, is growing. The zeitgeist of the day is more concerned with the environment than at any time in recent history and it shows. I encourage you to think critically about what the green movement is, what it means, and what it should be. Let us not forget in the rush that the movement must deal with the environment above all else.
