Are environmentalists hypocrites? Am I? Over my lifetime I've heard many, many people say they don't go to church because church is filled with hypocrites: folks who talk the talk, but don't walk the walk. It's true that many of them are there seeking support to walk the walk, but aren't quite there yet. Others are there to be associated with the Christian movement, but they have no intention of changing their lives. It seems that same thing is happening to the environmental movement. Many people are pointing to environmentalists who haven't changed their own lives, they just want to be in the GREEN CLUB.
This morning I got up and read The secret of herding cats | Energy Bulletin. I was especially struck by this line: "leaders who are perfectly willing to talk in the abstract about how people need to ditch their autos and give up air travel, but insist that they themselves need their SUV for one reason or another and wouldn’t dream of going .... by train." It just so happens that I was talking last night about how much I need my SUV. I already feel guilty for driving it when it's not being used to pull our boat to the Chitna River to get salmon, or to Valdez to get halibut, or to the Yukon River to get moose. My SUV allows us to eat Alaskan meats. Is that an acceptable excuse? What about my friend who doesn't fly except to get to world wide environmental gatherings? Is that acceptable?
Transitioning to a carbon neutral life is hard. Maybe the best thing I can do is to talk about what my struggles are and ask others what they are struggling with. That would at least add credence to my talks, but is it going to be too little too late? Do I really need to quit oil cold turkey in order to be able to talk to others about the severity of our oil addiction? Do I need to move to town so I can walk/bike everywhere?
What are the credentials of an environmentalist? I'd like some of your thoughts on the subject.
