Comments on: Upper East Side Green http://www.credoadvisors.com/blog/social-enterprise/upper-east-side-green/ Credo Advisors Consulting Blog: Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:41:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Peter Begley http://www.credoadvisors.com/blog/social-enterprise/upper-east-side-green/#comment-3613 Peter Begley Wed, 02 May 2007 01:32:46 +0000 http://www.credoadvisors.com/blog/social-enterprise/upper-east-side-green/#comment-3613 James: First, it is great to hear from you! What are you up to? Drop me an email when you have a chance -- I'd love to catch up. ...and if you are headed out to the Boston-area, I'll have a pint of Guinness ready for you when you step off the plane. I think you point is well put -- that said, I tend to be a bit cynical when both camps have equally massive piles of firewood to burn. At the end of the day, it is possible to find as many compelling arguments from the pro-environment crowd as from the pro-Hummer crowd. If you are a Friedman junkie at heart, and the arguments are a wash, you go with the camp that produces the greatest return. But if you aren't a Friedman junkie, or you are, but have a sliver of empathy for a purpose greater than pure profit generation, you go with the camp that produces a strong return, but also, for instance, reduces electricity consumption. Your point about the Prius is spot on. I think the greatest problem with moving toward the "right" solutions is a lack of transparency. A hybrid vehicle sounds great, until you factor in all of the emissions and waste created as a result of getting it into a customers driveway. That said, and for the record, I have always thought that Hummers were ridiculous for any purpose other than scaling a mountain... Where do we go from here? In the case of the Prius vs. the Hummer, I'd ask how we deal with societies' growing contradictions such as the growing need for autonomy with <em>style and differentiation</em> (in the form of hundreds of fuel-inefficient vehicles with extraneous niceties such as wood trim, power seats, etc.) contrasted against the constant cry for a cleaner environment. Do these same people really want to give up their laptops or their pre-packaged foods (myself included)? Something needs to be done, but it can't happen without honest and transparent conversations. James:

First, it is great to hear from you! What are you up to? Drop me an email when you have a chance — I’d love to catch up. …and if you are headed out to the Boston-area, I’ll have a pint of Guinness ready for you when you step off the plane.

I think you point is well put — that said, I tend to be a bit cynical when both camps have equally massive piles of firewood to burn. At the end of the day, it is possible to find as many compelling arguments from the pro-environment crowd as from the pro-Hummer crowd. If you are a Friedman junkie at heart, and the arguments are a wash, you go with the camp that produces the greatest return. But if you aren’t a Friedman junkie, or you are, but have a sliver of empathy for a purpose greater than pure profit generation, you go with the camp that produces a strong return, but also, for instance, reduces electricity consumption.

Your point about the Prius is spot on. I think the greatest problem with moving toward the “right” solutions is a lack of transparency. A hybrid vehicle sounds great, until you factor in all of the emissions and waste created as a result of getting it into a customers driveway. That said, and for the record, I have always thought that Hummers were ridiculous for any purpose other than scaling a mountain…

Where do we go from here? In the case of the Prius vs. the Hummer, I’d ask how we deal with societies’ growing contradictions such as the growing need for autonomy with style and differentiation (in the form of hundreds of fuel-inefficient vehicles with extraneous niceties such as wood trim, power seats, etc.) contrasted against the constant cry for a cleaner environment. Do these same people really want to give up their laptops or their pre-packaged foods (myself included)?

Something needs to be done, but it can’t happen without honest and transparent conversations.

]]> By: James Sun http://www.credoadvisors.com/blog/social-enterprise/upper-east-side-green/#comment-3612 James Sun Tue, 01 May 2007 23:32:19 +0000 http://www.credoadvisors.com/blog/social-enterprise/upper-east-side-green/#comment-3612 To play Devil's Advocate, what evidence is there that actually suggests that, we, as humans - an insignificant blip in Earth's history - are so influential and powerful that we can change the world's climate and environment? Surely, science finds that the rise and fall in the population of certain species is tied to our rotational relation to the Sun. In context to the article, I think the wealthy (especially Hollywood celebrities) are the biggest hypocrites around. Buy a Toyota Prius and you're supposed to be Earth-friendly? The production process involved in manufacturing a <a href="http://www.thetorquereport.com/2007/03/toyotas_prius_is_less_efficien.html" rel="nofollow">Toyota Prius is much more damaging to the environment than a Hummer</a>. To that end, where do we go from here? To play Devil’s Advocate, what evidence is there that actually suggests that, we, as humans - an insignificant blip in Earth’s history - are so influential and powerful that we can change the world’s climate and environment? Surely, science finds that the rise and fall in the population of certain species is tied to our rotational relation to the Sun.

In context to the article, I think the wealthy (especially Hollywood celebrities) are the biggest hypocrites around. Buy a Toyota Prius and you’re supposed to be Earth-friendly? The production process involved in manufacturing a Toyota Prius is much more damaging to the environment than a Hummer. To that end, where do we go from here?

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