The Inanity of Splitting Green Hairs

Slate runs another stupid article about greening up one's life. This sort of writing and focus misses the point entirely. The differences articles like this illuminate are usually so small that the changes they might incite in an individual's behavior are inconsequential, insofar as they affect nothing more than the preening person's sense of eco-virtue. The environmental problems we face are structural problems at a societal level, which will be solved only with broad regulation (read: sacrifice or prohibitive costliness that few will welcome when they realize what it would require of them) or technological leaps. So far few in the political arena have addressed these needed changes seriously. I've heard that Thomas Friedman's forthcoming book will explore these issues thoroughly. It's funny how it takes a purveyor of conventional wisdom to bring credibility to arguments which others on the "fringe" were making decades ago.