GREEN BUSINESS VIEWS

There are times when I feel  that my efforts for environmentalism are out of step with those who have been the spokesperson for their area of environmental practices.   For some, we are going too fast and asking too much, and for others we are going too slow and asking too little.   Of course, those with a special penchant feel that I am not paying enough attention to their issues.   Essentially, it feels a little like a game called “King of the Mountain” that we all played as children.

Standing atop your mountain, you invite all comers.  “Try me out and see if you can do better,” is the taunting challenge.   Then comes the challengers, large and small.  It is part skill and part strength to hold your ground as king of the mountain.  With each victory, confidence and pride is raised, but then comes the eventual failed defense.   In this metaphor, the mountain was really not all that important in the real scheme of things.  It was simply my mountain for a short period of time.

As I watch the evolution of the environmental cause, things are more serious that in grade school; and the causes are not a game.  Nonetheless, the challenge to be the one whose opinion is heard and respected is the adult version of this adult generation.

In the cacophony of voices vying for public attention, I would try to defend a pragmatic form of environmentalism.  There are those who are more scholarly, and there are those more passion-driven.  I feel strongly that the environmental debate does us little good, unless it has the tactic feel of something that we can lay our hands on and put to work.

In the building process, there are the engineers and architects who draw the design, do the math, and unify the demand of many processes into a functional diagram.  These are the well-trained theoreticians which provide the planning and forethought for a  well-designed building.

Then there are the people with tools who turn the ideas into reality.  Which one is more important?  Both would argue that their part of the process is critical and most valuable.   But, we need not stop there.  What about the politicians and agencies who pass laws and enforce regulations to safeguard the public safety?   Perhaps, it is the realtor who put real people in an empty building.  In the end, the residents who live or work in the building must turn a building into something profitable or useful.  Which is most important?

The answer is that they all play their part and are invaluable at some point of the process.

I am a pragmatic person with enough intellect to appreciate the academic side of the process as well of the application side.   What matters to me is that we engage the challenge before us bringing all the expertise, skills, and talent that we can spare.

There is an obvious pending catastrophe looming on the horizon.  No matter what you believe about global warming or climate change, there are 7 billion people on the earth with 9 billion predicted by 2025.  In the 1950’s there were only about 4 billion people in the world.

For the first time, we are measuring the approximate reach of our resources, and it seems all too obvious that the world will eventually reach critical mass when needed resources are exhausted unless we alter the future by what we do today.

No, I am not a tree-hugger, a scientist, an engineer, a meteorologist, or a politician.  I see myself as a pragmatic environmentalist that honestly hopes that I can win over a lot of other people to my non-radicalized solution for our ailing world.   I hope for innovation and invention to buy us time and literally rescue our future.   There are grand scope challenges that require the skills of a scientist or engineer to evaluate and resolve.  I really hope that politicians know enough to avoid laws that do more harm than good as we fight our way out of this mess.  But, I believe that the biggest challenge of them all is enlisting the service of countless people in whatever level of life they function.

I honestly believe that the environmental problem is a universal problem that requires universal participation.  That participation should not be only for the well-endowed, but offering simple solutions that can be applied everywhere.  While scientist do things few of us can accomplish and corporations commit resources that few of us can afford; the magnitude of the environmental threat is greater than even these grand efforts.

The environmental message is the value of one good deed magnified 7 billion times over, making a massive change in our world.  No one should devalue the environmental efforts being made on a grand scale because they are impressive and represent great progress.   If the governments and agencies flood billions of dollars into the torn country of Haiti, does this annul the $10 gift of a blue collar worker?  When there are a million blue collar workers making a $10 gift, the combined value is $10 million.

The Green Business League has something for everyone.  Large or small, family or business, blue collar or white.   The plan is simple in application and profound in scope.   We call it Green Practices.  This is not about building Green buildings although Green buildings are worthy efforts.  Green practices represent activity, involvement, and change.  In fact, every Green practice has a point value that allows everyone to participate tracking the volume of each person’s efforts.

In the GBL Green Point system, the accumulation of these points has greater value some might think.  When a business achieves 100 points, the company will receive an earned designation as a Certified Green business.   This is that pragmatic approach that I advocate.  Real actions, honest recognition, and an earned certification that demonstrates participation on this global crisis.  But here’s the rub.  We do not have nearly enough participants, and the problem is no less real today than it was a few years ago.

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