professor Maniates

I think professor Maniates makes an important point that encouraging a "baby stepping" approach to more sustainable lifestyles is to slow and can allocate a false sense of reward and accomplishment. Though its unlikely that our society will go from full throttle consumerism to full throttle environmentalism, the "easy" does offer a happy, consumer friendly transition into what will need to be a faster paced movement. Also, small market shifts in behavior can provide an "early warning system" of sorts for big business by signaling early the new direction of market behavior, allowing them to adapt and facilitate the process from their end. While I find it hard to condemn Obama for not having a more open, direct dialogue with the country about our need to consume less, he has made rapid environmental achievements in a very short time. Too many people drive excessively when alternatives are present, many companies design products with the design that they will not last very long. There is alot that needs to happen, and while we don't have time to lollygag about this issue, we can't reject every effort undertaken simply because it isn't big enough. Holding out for a rapid, fundamental change is not likely to yield anything anytime soon.