What does Green Economy mean?
No, this isn't the green LED lights on the Wall Street ticker. Green Economy is a concept that seeks the highest efficiency in production, distribution and consumption.
It means wasting fewer resources, while often saving money, too. Honestly, why do we have to get so many of our consumer goods from half-way across the globe? Wouldn't we rather see local communities benefit from our purchases than to continue to send vast sums of wealth abroad in the pursuit of cheaper goods? Well, we would—what about you?
Green Economy can be thought of as the application of sustainable principles to economic practices that provide a similar standard of living as we currently maintain but with fewer environmental externalities and negative impacts.
There are a number of measures that can be taken to build a green economy, for example, the job-retraining proposals in the Green Jobs Act. The green economy consists of the development of new and clean technologies, the expansion of localized economies including local food, the investment in efficient and sustainable design principles from architecture to regional planning, and of course the creation of green jobs. To find out more about the Green Economy movement learn about what Green for All is doing:http://www.greenforall.org/
Van Jones, the founder of Green for All and author of the Green Collar Economy, is now Pres. Obama's green jobs director. He argues that environmental problems and inner-city poverty can be addressed by creating a green collar industry that employs people in building a green economy. Listen to him speak via Viddler.com:
For an article on the "greening" of the Indiana automobile industry, see "$400M for Green Autos," The Indianapolis Star, Aug. 6, p. 1. Up the road in Muncie, Ball State University is moving the green economy forward with its plan to build the largest geothermal energy system in the U.S..
For more resources on the Green Economy, follow the Common Theme Project's pages to Be Informed and Get Engaged.
Win some green by helping IUPUI go green!
The deadline for the fall Common Green Contest is quickly approaching.
Have you read your pages this week?
Pp. 162 - 172: "Direct Democracy"
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Since happiness has increased with income in the past, we assumed it would do so in the future. However, it is a fallacy. McKibben’s aim in Deep Economy is relatively modest. It is to change minds, to present a new mental model of the possible. He suggests more progress toward local economies. His analysis of localization for food, radio, and energy, can be applied to almost any commodity. If we start thinking a little differently we can do the same for our democracy.
Bill McKibben, "Pursuing Prosperity and Local Sustainability"
Monday, Nov. 9,
CE – Campus Center Room: 450
