Why do we need a Green Economy? The main reason may be survival. I am pretty sure that a Green Economy is the economy of the future. As the world evolves so must the economics. The fight for the survival of our planet could be a very profitable one for the people that really grasp the concept of a green economy. We can either cling to our old ideas of abusing the world we live in or we can be a leader in transforming the world we live in. The United States used to be leaders; I just feel that that is not as true today as it was in the past. Clinging to old ideas and technologies from the past is just making us fall farther behind.

For 22 years I worked for a copper fabrication company. When I started it was called Anaconda American Brass. Everything was old, dirty and hot. It was quite an eye opening experience for that 18 year kid. This was in 1971 and I do not believe at the time that there was a speck of post World War II equipment. Now, if you remember from your history books, most of the industries in Europe and Japan had pretty much been leveled during the World War. Everything had to be rebuilt. We invested 22 billion dollars to help rebuild Europe. That is almost 200 billion dollars in today money.  Now I am sure many businesses in the United States made a lot of money, not only off the war but also after the war helping rebuilding Europe and Japan. I may be wrong on this but in the case of the American Brass where I worked we were now competing with pre-World War ll technology in a post World War ll world. In many cases they did not reinvest enough of their profits back into their own business here in the United States. When the time came it was easier to rebuild somewhere else than it is was to modernize their existing manufacturing facilities. Thus, the creation of the Rust Belt? In the American Brass we had this Hot Rolling mill we called the Hot Roll. On its last day of production the Smithsonian came out and took pictures because it was the last one of its kind running. Now, you know you are working with outdated equipment when the Smithsonian wants to come in a take pictures to preserve history.

We need to learn from our lessons of the past. The world in embracing Green Technology while we are still trying to hold onto our old fossil fuel companies and jobs. China is working in my opinion to become the leader in Green Technology.   Now they are one of if not the most populated countries in the world. More people, more pollution. It is really serving them in the fact that they are working to clean up their own country but they are establishing themselves as a world leader when it comes to Green Technology. While we were fighting on whether climate change was real China was already acting on it. What the phrase “you snooze you lose” well we may be losing when it comes to going green. Now a few energy companies are starting to figure green technology into their business plan.I believe that their survival will depend on it. Getting in front of the problem before regulations force you to is always better for the consumer in my opinion. Many non-energy companies are now jumping on the green bandwagon which is also a good thing.  

Our continued goal should be to get more of the public on the band wagon. Even Lindsey Graham believes in climate change.  He has just been hesitant to blame our activities as a species as part of the problem and what should be done about the problem.  Too many other politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene and of course our very own Donald Trump thinks that climate change isn’t real and if it is it is not caused by us.  I once worked with a guy that thought climate change was great because it would make his winters more mild. His was a “hell with the rest of the world” type of guy.

There are things we have to remember as we are going forward. Racism is real. The insurrection is real. White Supremacy is real. But also we have to remember that Climate Change is real. Just like all the other things that are real we can do something about it.