I read an opinion piece earlier today by Columbia University faculty member, Steven Cohen, entitled The Transition to a Sustainable Economy May Happen Without the U.S. Federal Government.
Several strong and sometimes witty points are addressed in the article,
all of which are of reasonable importance. Overall, however, the piece
points out the ever-increasing need for further developments in the
realm of environmentally conscious change, through not only personal
choices of society members, but through official government policies.
The latter of which, we have surprisingly found to be almost entirely
lacking in the U.S., despite further research on the matters that may
very well affect the future.
One highlight of the piece that I do consider to be one of the more important elements, is a referenced letter from the co-CEO’s
of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), a major global investment firm.
Although working predominantly within the financial industry, even KKR
and its leaders strongly believe in higher levels of sustainability
practices. Among other things, they mention that such initiatives will
lead to a better use of resources, as well as a more profitable
business. It is essentially a win-win situation, so long as adequate
effort is put into it.
A major distaste for the U.S. government’s lack of response to
trending issues on limited resources and needed sustainability is openly
expressed by Cohen as well. To be honest, he is rightfully
disappointed. However, as I continued to read on and hop around the
Huffington Post website, I did come across a slideshow list of the Greenest Celebrities.
I usually find such things hard to stomach, but in this case, I was
immediately drawn in. Some of the members of the list came as no
surprise, but others I found to be quite the opposite. I think its
worth checking out and reading up on each of the celebs, but no matter
how you view the issues, it can give a little more hope to the cause –
although government officials seemingly refuse to take steps forward,
perhaps with high profile individuals like celebrities pushing for
advancement and programs, the green movement has large-scale hope yet.
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