Leaving The Stone Age  

WorldChanging has a piece up on the geo-greens.

Personally I've got little trust or faith in the geo-greens - so I'll echo Jon S's description - "geo-inevitable might be a better moniker, or even, Late To The Conservation Party...".

One of my favorite bright green clichés has to be: "The Stone Age didn't end because we ran out of stones."

It's a reminder that efforts to replace non-renewable sources of energy with more sustainable technologies can be driven by innovation rather than desperation. But desperation is a powerful motivator; it's usually easier to sell policies with fear rather than hope, even if playing the fear card has nasty repercussions down the road. Desperation comes from a sense of vulnerability, not a recognition of undesirable results. And right now, the US is feeling particularly vulnerable when it comes to oil. The two most visible manifestations of the desperation agenda are the so-called "geo-greens" and the increasing visibility of the "peak oil" concept.

"Geo-greens" is Tom Friedman's term for those who advocate renewable energy technologies due to the security problems with oil. Such advocacy cuts across party lines; while geo-greens may disagree on the connection between oil consumption and climate disruption, they all agree that oil consumption hurts Western and American political interests. For the geo-greens, American petroleum use is inextricably linked to authoritarian regimes, supporters of terrorism, and the depredations of OPEC.