Uncle Sam’s Green Wallet: Will Federal Spending Support Environmental Technologies?

For years, environmentalists have urged the federal government to become the jolly green giant among green consumers. After all, the U.S. runs up a $480 billion shopping bill each year, buying eight percent of our gross national product, while the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal landlord and supply store, would rank in the top 50 of the Fortune 500 if it were a private company. Late Christmas, Ralph Nader gave the Clinton administration his wish-list disguised as a present, a recycling bin loaded with 40 items it should buy to build a greener economy. He included brown unbleached paper napkins, a low flow showerhead, an energy efficient "exit" sign good for 10 years and copier paper made with kenaf, a plant fiber substitute for trees. "Not only is the government the largest single consumer in this country, its buying power could leverage new technologies, creat jobs, protect the environment, save taxpayer money and stimulate emerging technologies for a broader civilian marketplace," he said.

Tales From Toxic America

On weekends, the Crystal City Marriott on the rim of Washington, DC turns into a hive of conventioneers. This past May, it is asphalt makers and nurses who have come to dine among tropical plants in the balcony restaurants, ride the escalators under the skylights and meet in the beige caverns of the conference halls.

Troubled Waters

For Norman Maclean, Montana’s Big Blackfoot River was a pristine and spiritual place where any faithful fly fisherman could enjoy a near-religious experience, partaking in the best that nature had to offer. The trout-filled waters of the Blackfoot shaped Maclean’s life and inspired him to write a book, A River Runs Through It, filled with romantic descriptions of the Blackfoot, which inspired Robert Redford to buy the screenplay rights and produce a movie about the beautiful river of Maclean’s youth. Flyfishing, brotherhood, growing up in Montana–the Hollywood production had all the wholesome goodness of homemade bread, except for one thing. By the time Redford was ready to start filming two years ago, some 16 years after the book was published, the Big Blackfoot lacked the asthetics necessary to serve as the setting for the movie.

Sip-By-Sipping in the 90s

Can’t sleep? Upset stomach? Need to warm up or cool down? Then do what half of America and 90 percent of the world does each day–have a cup of tea. Who can resist the whimsical packaging and names like Metabolic Frolic, Nighty-Night, Red Zinger, and Grandma’s Tummy Mint? Yet tea, innocuous as it seems, is steeped in controversy, government regulations, lawsuits and battles for the bucks.

Speaking for Spokes

A mere 28 pounds of metal and rubber, it’s been called "the most elegantly simple machine ever invented." It’s cheap, clean, quiet and healthy, too. But, next to the fondue pot, the bicycle may be the most underutilized piece of equipment we own, quietly biodegrading in our garage or closet, as we wait for next spring. Spring then turns to summer–and "it’s too hot to ride, takes too long, is too dangerous, rumples my clothes, the air’s too dirty, I’m not in good enough shape…"

The Blame Game

Noe that 12 years of Republican neglect of the environment have been consigned to the ash heap of history, some observers have found a new culprit behind the seemingly never-ending stories of our ailing planet: the environmentalists themselves. According to a recent series in The New York Times (the topic of this issue’s Forum), such groups as the Sierra club and Natural Resources Defense Council "are in danger of becoming the green equivalent of the military lobby, more interested in sowing fear and protecting wasteful programs than in devising a new course." In a time of huge budget deficits and a sputtering economy, they say, environmentalists should quit the Chicken Little game and accept that we live in a cost/benefits world where we simply can’t afford a return to the Garden of Eden.

Young Man River

The 25-foot boat darted toward the Exxon tanker under cover of night, stealthily taking water samples of the liquid being discharged. For a half year, the tiny boat had trailed tankers along New York’s Hudson River as they rinsed their tanks clean of sea water tainted with jet fuel–an illegal activity Exxon would live to regret. But back in 1983 few people knew that the Hudson River had recently acquired its very own watchdog: John Cronin, better known as the Riverkeeper.

The Death and Life of Yellow Creek

On a mild winter morning, Yellow Creek runs caramel brown behind larry and Sheila Wilson’s house, smelling of the earth, pungent and natural. The surface ripples over hidden rocks and breaks into tiiny white caps. From the porch it looks like a gentle wading creek, but as you cross the lawn you find that it is a powerful little river, full of muscle, racing ahead through this flat hollow to the next bend in the wooded mountains that have shaped five decades of Larry’s life. This is the heart of coal country. One small hill has laready been cut down soon. But for now the hollow seems at peace, slumbering in the brown shades of winter. The loud burbling of the creek blankets the yard. a great blue heron flies overhead. The damp air carries an acrid trace of coal smoke from a neighbor’s chimney.

Letter From Costa Rica

We are not often exposed, in this country, to acts of principled self-denial on the part of those far less fortunate than ourselves. America is a country seemingly obsessed with rights, demands and redress. Greed is presumed god, or at least neutral, when accompanied by a relative lack of wealth. So while the poor are, by virtue of their state, free of any need to justify avarice, many of us make special pains to do just that. Accumulation pervades life in the developed world so completely that much can be determined about our worldview by how much and how gracefully we consume.

Can Marketing Save the Rainforest?

Kathyrn Alexander saw the green light when she read an article about Cultural Survival, the indigenous-rights group based in Boston. "I was truly inspired," she remembers. Alexander is president of Tropical Botanicals, a California company that produces such sexy-sounding products as "Passionflower Massage Oil" and "Babacu Nut Body Lotion."

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