Greenopia: Everything Is Green If We Say It Is
Posted by keith on June 1st, 2009
Greenwash takes many forms, but you don’t expect it to come from a web site that doesn’t appear to have any great commercial pretences, and seems to want to do the right thing. As we have come to expect, sadly, some good intentions do often go terribly awry, leading to moral contradictions that are so obvious that you can only gape at the stupidity of whoever thought up the offending item.
Take green airlines.
What? Exactly. There is no such thing as a “green” airline, never has been and — given that Industrial Civilization is going to collapse long before anything like sustainability will truly be on the agenda (it’s a logical minefield out there) — never will be. All aircraft require vast amounts of fuel to get them in the air, generate the thrust necessary to keep them at cruising speed and simply to transport the great hulk of metal around. Fill the plane up and you still get a very environmentally unfriendly transport system; that’s just the way it is.
So when I get an email from a “green consumer” website (actually, forget what I said about good intentions — they also promote “green” cars, “green” large appliances and even “”””GREEN”””” OIL COMPANIES!!!) saying they have a chart of the 10 Least Environmentally Harmful Companies, my Greenwash Radar tends to go off the scale.
Dear Fellow Green Blogger:
We all know fossil fuels are on the way out, but until we all have electric cars powered by local solar/geothermal/small hydro your choice of gas station CAN make a difference to the environment. That’s because there are significant differences in the impact that oil companies have, from carbon footprint for extraction, to hazardous waste produced to water used. Greenopia utilized a six-part analysis method including greenhouse gas emissions and oil spill efficiency, to rank the Top ten major oil companies for their environmental impact…
Whoops! Sorry, that was the email I got in April about the oil companies…I wonder if the airlines one is any different:
Dear Fellow Green Blogger:
If you love to travel but hate that flying the friendly skies isn’t so earth-friendly then you should check out Greenopia’s newly released Greenest Commercial Airline Rankings Guide, when choosing your next airline carrier. [Ed: My next airline carrier! What kind of person claims to be green and is a frequent flier? A hypocrite.]
Topping the list are Virgin and Continental. Both airlines have fairly new fleets which tend to be more fuel-efficient, and have completed flights using biofuels [Ed: Great, biofuels. Food shortages and deforestation for flights.] . Both also offer carbon offset services and Virgin serves fair trade coffee on flights [Ed: Oh, FFS! As if that makes a difference.].
See where the other airlines ranked here: Greenopia Airline Ranking Guide
See our editorial on the subject here: “Greener Airlines? 10 Least Environmentally Harmful Companies”
“It’s a dilemma,” commented Greenopia founder and CEO, Gay Browne. “People are going to travel. Whatever method they chose will impact the planet. Our readers want to know how to get to their destination with the smallest environmental footprint, especially if they are boarding a jumbo jet [Ed: …then they know it isn’t green!]. We appreciate those airlines like Virgin and Continental that are taking great strides to green their passenger miles.”
Using an extensive list of criteria including fleet age, fuel consumption practices, carbon offsets, green building design, recycling programs, and organic, local and sustainable food items available on flights, rankings were determined.
Let me know if you’d like to interview Doug Mazeffa, our Director of Research, or if you would like us to put together a guest post on this topic tailored to your blog’s audience.
Best,
Ayana Meade
Associate Editor, Greenopia
ayana@greenopia.com
646-404-7850
Here’s the response-counter-response thread, for your enjoyment:
This is hilarious! Airlines being “green” – that’s the best joke I’ve heard all year. You can be guaranteed this will feature on The Unsuitablog.
Best
Keith
www.unsuitablog.com
P.S. It was meant to be a spoof, wasn’t it?
From Ayana:
Fair Enough. No one’s saying they’re green, but unless you completely abstain from flying (which not many of us do) you might as well spend your money with one that’s making strides to reduce the harm to the environment, while we’re all waiting for better solutions.
You *are* saying they are green:
“Greenopia has released its rankings of the 10 greenest commercial airlines operating domestic flights across America.”
I don’t fly – that’s my solution. What’s your excuse, Ayana?
Keith
From Ayana:
It’s great that you don’t fly out of principle, but the reality is that I doubt air travel is going anywhere any time soon. If you disagree, with the use of the term “greenest” to identify which is the lessor of the evils, that still doesn’t diminish the guide as a consumer tool that allows people to make an informed choice, and at least vote with their dollars as to which companies they will and won’t support. Information is powerful and promotes change.
It doesn’t promote change if that “change” is the difference between two things that are just as bad as each other or, worse still, makes people think that it is ok to continue doing the very things that have led us to the brink of environmental catastrophe. In effect, you are saying that if you want to fly then it is “green” to fly with these companies.: IT IS NOT, and you know it.
You are responsible for greenwashing of the very highest order, and cannot be allowed to continue in this way – it is totally unethical.
Regards
Keith
I didn’t receive a response.
Don’t forget, one of the best ways to kill greenwashing is to tell the offender that they are a hypocrite, in public. Why not write to Ayana yourself and I’ll publish the responses here.
June 1st, 2009 at 9:41 am
While you have some valid points I fundamentally disagree with any position that makes “the perfect” the enemy of the good.
I don’t think greenopia is saying that airlines are green, they are acknowledging the environmental impact of that mode of travel, taking into consideration that people are going to fly regardless and they are providing a tool for consumers to choose the airline with the smallest environmental impact, or the airline that is making the biggest strides to clean up the industry… eg, the greenest of the airlines, not GREEN airlines.
Nothing you write or do is going to prevent everyone from flying so given that reality why not provide people the tools to choose the least harmful way to fly?
June 1st, 2009 at 10:40 am
It seems to me that both you and Greenopia are accepting a false fait accompli, i.e. that we are always going to be agents of destruction, so we had better just accept the best of a bad lot. A “fait accompli” that, in the worst traditions of greenwashing, is *exactly* what the corporations *want* us to believe.
I choose not to accept that situation, and particularly dispair at your statement, “Nothing you write or do is going to prevent everyone from flying”. No, I won’t prevent *everyone* from flying, but I don’t need to prevent *everyone* from flying to shut down an airline; simple economics (they run at a profit margin of about 2-4%). But if you think you won’t have any effect, of course you won’t have any effect – feel free to accept the status quo if that’s what you prefer.
Keith
June 1st, 2009 at 1:14 pm
“unless you completely abstain from flying (which not many of us do)”
What planet do they live on? Sunday-colour-supplement land, obviously!
The great majority of the planet’s inhabitants have never flown anywhere, and never will.
Air travel is a selfish game for those who like to pretend that we can all live like Kings and Queens without any impact on the planet or others.
Phil, who hasn’t flown anywhere since 1977 and is very unlikely to fly ever again
June 1st, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Thanks for the comment about fliers being in the global minority, Phil. Greenopia is so American Dream-centric it’s not true.
K.
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:23 pm
It’s not a matter of simple economics, it’s a matter of culture. The airline industry has rarely turned a profit in the last 30 years without gov’t subsidies. If you want to exert your consumer influence I support you, but along with many people, I don’t want to eliminate air travel and I feel pretty confident that regardless of each companies financial health, the industry will continue to operate.
There is a big difference between the airlines regarding their fuel efficiency and their sustainable practices. A company with an old fleet that flys with partially full planes is leaving a much larger foot print than an airline with a younger, more fuel efficient fleet, that always flys with every seat filled. Even if the airline industry is doomed, we have an interest in creating the smallest impact in the interim and providing consumers with tools to do so is not greenwashing, it’s empowering.
Your fatalistic all or nothing approach is like a vegan saying that there is no point to free range chicken farms because no one should eat meat. It’s fine as a personal opinion, but as platform for change, it’s just hubris.
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Well, all I can do is disagree, Matt. I would love to eliminate air travel and would happily reverse the damage that has been done by everything made possible by it, too. I can’t do the latter, but will do my best to achieve the former. Feel free to respond – for my part, I’ll leave it there.
June 3rd, 2009 at 10:43 am
As Matt said “Your fatalistic all or nothing approach is like a vegan saying that there is no point to free range chicken farms because no one should eat meat. It’s fine as a personal opinion, but as platform for change, it’s just hubris.”
Not just hubris but also a VERY easy position to take. Everything is simple – whatever you see you can simplistically damn it all regardless of what it is, whether it’s a huge SUV or a small duel fuel car both can be casually damned without investigation or thought. easy. absolutist. completely ineffective….
June 3rd, 2009 at 10:55 am
[…] an example of how two people see green differently, check out “Everything is Green if we say it is” from The Unsuitablog. This post sheds light on green’s ambiguity. While I agree with Keith, […]
June 3rd, 2009 at 4:47 pm
You’ve been found out. Why not ‘moderate’ this post out of sight too? you have seen it anyway.
I quoted matt who said that “Your fatalistic all or nothing approach” and added that its not just hubris but leaves you with an easy position, simply dismiss everything irrespective of the details. no need for deeper investigation, just damn everything the same regardless. It’s easy, absolutist and also ineffective.
you could have made your position clearer, defending the absolutism, any of which would have been more credible.
June 3rd, 2009 at 4:54 pm
golly, maybe it just takes a long time to moderate….
there, i got carried away with the idea of being censored – if so then sorry keith :(
June 4th, 2009 at 3:14 am
Yes, Commentator, it does take a while to moderate – especially at 11pm UK time. I am now on the computer.
Can I please point you to Chapters 11 and 13 of A Matter Of Scale (http://www.amatterofscale.com) as the defence of my absolutist argument. I’m not sure the comment field allows 25,000 words so please excuse me for asking you to read something I have already written.
Keith