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1 comment - Last on 02/27/2009
Green Fatigue
People are tired of eco-hype. They hear about global warming and yawn. They see “Go Green” t-shirts and roll eyes. That is so last year. At NAS, we have consciously referred to sustainability on campus as a fad, not to be mistaken as something more longstanding. But could it really be that the craze is melting faster than polar bear-mounted iceburgs? According to Steven F. Hayward’s article “All the Leaves Are Brown” (originally published in the winter issue of the Claremont Review of Books), it is. A London Times headline sums it up: “Suddenly Being Green Is Not Cool Any More.”
What Hayward calls “green fatigue” is our nation’s growing disenchantment with environmental alarmism. But over in the academic world, they’re calling for reenchantment, urging students to step outside reason in search of “wonder and delight” in nature. The sustainability movement on campus is more demanding. It compels students to become “change agents” with “a commitment to finding solutions to societal problems.” And while environmental hysteria is abating among the general population, among those in higher education, the three-pronged (social justice, economic justice, environmental justice) sustainability movement is just gaining momentum.
Hayward’s indication of the downturn of eco-enthusiasm is a good example of how the ivory tower removes itself from what people “in the real world” actually think. We encourage college administrators and faculty to venture out there once in a while and gain a real sense of wonder and delight.
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Not to quibble with the main point of the argument, but on my campus (which is in a conservative state and does not exhibit many of the grosser examples of political idiocy rampant on other campuses), the sustainability effort is actually leading to some good things. There are good reasons to recycle and conserve that go beyond all the usual shibboleths about global warming, etc. And I know of at least one example on my campus where there was open and honest analysis of one proposed move toward sustainability. In this analysis, a group of students attempted to do what "seemed" right under sustainability measures, but turned out to have a worse impact on the environment than the previously used measures (which were also market-driven and, by the lights of political correctness, too "consumerist"). These students went back to original measures and reported on the results. They were genuinely interested in reducing environmental impact, did an honest analysis, and behaved accordingly and without regard to whether their results and actions fit the narrative.
So I would hate to see sustainability, per se, attacked. But to the extent that it is yet another buzzword and instrument of power-mongering by one group over another, yes, I think we need to stay on top of this.
by Judy Parrish Posted on 02/27/2009