“We do suggest that there is more to being green than just saving energy, that the word has been co-opted and it is time for a new one” — Treehugger.com — Greenwash Watch: Solar Panels Do Not A Green House Make
The quote above made me reminisce counterculture philosophy of the 90s with the whole sentiment that once a social or cultural movement is labeled or named it is assimilated to be used for marketing purposes and hence diffused of all real meaning.
However, the piece in itself aside from that is a fantastic summary of what I think is a little known fact in the scope of activists and other grassroots supporters of solar energy. Many of the residential consumers of solar electricity are using it as a way of buying out of their own environmental impact as opposed to conservation (aka lifestyle change). I have swapped stories with other solar installers in my area about our experiences with this in our travels…
This whole business of possible carbon “trading” (i.e. buying “carbon offsets”) just promotes a business-as-usual approach to pollution and resource depletion.