The Boston Globe slams Bush's environmental record in an editorial today.
Amid the expected criticism of the Bush administration, enemy of the environment, there is also some rather harsh criticism of the observance of Earth Day itself aimed at the Green hypocrites.
In the Wall Street Journal, Jeffrey Ball addresses the fear of some activists "that something gets lost in the pop-environmentalism this once-a-year celebration has come to epitomize: bold action. They fret that a flood of well-meaning but inadequate gestures gives people a false sense of progress, lulling them into complacency just when the world needs more environmental action and less talk -- not the other way around."
He goes on:
"The danger is we let ourselves be happy with gestures rather than substance," said Hal Harvey, environment-program director for the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, which helps bankroll prominent environmental groups. Mr. Harvey sat next to a woman on a flight who took what she thought was a principled environmental stand: She refused creamer for her coffee because of its tiny plastic-cup packaging -- amid the din of jet engines burning thousands of gallons of fuel.
Green-minded consumers could be forgiven for thinking all is well. Madison Avenue is working overtime to convince the public that its clients are doing their bit for the environment. Bob Knott, who heads the environmental business-strategy practice at the Edelman public-relations firm, advises clients wanting to make a green splash today: "Come out with something big. Otherwise you'll get lost in the shuffle."
In a news release Friday, LexisNexis boasted that it is "contributing to the 'green' movement" through a service that lets law firms and courts exchange legal documents online, saving paper. The release said the service has saved "roughly 125,000 trees," curbing greenhouse-gas emissions "by 30,000 tons."
But the company didn't explain that that isn't much. The savings occurred over multiple years; they amount to about 0.004% of the carbon-dioxide emissions the U.S. pulp and paper industry produces annually. LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc., concedes that the service's environmental benefit is small.
In the Washington Post, Hank Stuever went so far as to memorialize the dead Earth Day and ponder its demise, citing "celebrity piety and corporate baloney" as the cause of its death.
Don't lose hope. An editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel prefers to praise Earth Day rather than bury it.
There is no question that much progress has been made on the environment since the first Earth Day in 1970. Much of that progress is due to the sensibilities created by the environmental movement and leaders such as Wisconsin's own Gaylord Nelson, the founder of Earth Day. Much work remains to be done, but the environment is significantly healthier than it was 38 years ago.
However, the challenge the planet faces now - climate change - is perhaps bigger than the challenges of 1970. The good news this Earth Day is that the alarm has been sounded, and people are responding across a spectrum of local, national and international venues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.
Wait a minute.
The JS Editorial Board says that the "environment is significantly healthier than it was 38 years ago," since the first Earth Day. That's great, but there's bad news.
The problem is today's environmental challenge is perhaps bigger than the challenges of 1970, with its visibly foul air and contaminated bodies of water. Today's problem, of course, is climate change, previously called "global warming," or still called "global warming," or environmental Armageddon, or something that elicits panic.
Is the Board saying that the climate wasn't changing 38 years ago, when there was dramatically less environmental awareness and dramatically more pollution? Hmm.
So, climate change is something new for the planet according to the Board.
Really? What was the Ice Age about?
I was under the impression that the environment is always in process. I think we had climate change or global warming or global cooling 38 years ago, too. I think it was around even before then. That's not important. Reality shouldn't get in the way of the festivities of this special day.
Anyway, in honor of Earth Day, this post is going green in a gesture of... greenness.
There.
I've done my part, like NBC making its little peacock logo green this week.
This is really gratifying, being green. This must be what the gluttonous Al Gore feels like when he guzzles jet fuel, flying around the world to warn of global warming, and carbon emissions, and those poor drowning polar bears.
It's good to be green for a day.
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