My takeaway from the following interview with Bill McKibbon — It’s never too late to try to make a good difference. In fact, it’s our duty as moral creatures. If indeed we believe that we are moral creatures. McKibbon is a lifelong environmentalist, not at all preachy. Aware of the compromises we all make for expediency, he nonetheless underscores the importance of choosing stewardship of the planet over mindless consumption.

Prior to purchasing my 2002 Prius, I drove a 1975 BMW 2002 for a number of years. It was beige with black interior trim. A sun roof. Leather buckets. In good condition. Handled beautifully. No air. Lots of style though. A gift from its original owner, my late Uncle Jack, and I loved it dearly. But thousands of dollars into maintaining and rebuilding the Beemer, I realized it was time for a new car. And, without even thinking twice, I went straight to my local Toyota dealership and purchased a Prius. Not because I’m the world’s most conscientious environmentalist. I flush the toilet too often to claim that distinction, among other crimes and misdemeanors. But because the hybrid seemed to at least offer a partial and painless solution to the fossil fuel conundrum.

Of course, now five years and one bloody-oil-war-without-end later, people are standing in line for a new hybrid. Unfortunately and inexplicably, people are also standing in line for ever bigger and more gas-guzzling monstrosities such as the Escalade and Hummer. I actually canceled a date on the spot once when a Match.com guy, purportedly the “only Democrat in Orange County,” pulled up in his huge silver Hummer.

“Think globally, act neighborly,” says Bill McKibbon. Read the interview. You just may want to make a little lifestyle adjustment in the aftermath.

http://www.salon.com/books/int/2007/03/23/mckibben/index2.html

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