The Green Oscars

Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Gore just stood up on stage together (an unlikely pair) to talk about the "Green Oscars" initiative. Finally, environmentalism is in vogue, and there are a multitude of celebrities who want to ride in hybrid limos and build energy efficient mansions. Al Gore's "The Inconvenient Truth" was nominated for two oscars itself. My readers may detect a hint of scarcasm. No, I am glad that some of our richer and (perhaps, unfortunately) influential citizens are taking an interest in "being green." However, sometimes it feels like environmentalism is becoming more of a fashion statement than a movement with real goals. There is even a new term being bandied about these days, "green-washing." Wikipedia defines greenwashing as, "a pejorative term that environmentalists and other critics use to describe the activity of giving a positive public image to putatively environmentally unsound practices." You can see it all the time, and I wrote about greenwashing in gas and oil companies in a paper last semester. I mean, BP now has a green logo with a little sun on it, as though they are a solar-energy company instead of a gas and oil one. Unfortunately, we need environmentalism to be much more than a fashion statement - we need it to be something that we act on and believe in. Its not just about snazzy hybrid vehicles, or pricey organic food made from imported ingredients. Environmentalism needs to be more than skin deep.



For an article about the green oscars, check out:
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2281395.ece