The worst in the world is still the American consumer.

A sample of the American:
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A sample of the Germans:
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Charles Mudede—who writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger—was born near a steel plant in Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe. He has no memory...

15 replies on “No Green Here”

  2. I was going to write about how this is really just measuring that Americans are among the richest, and so unless you want to argue that the state-of-greenness toward which we should all aspire is death (zero resource consumption), a better measure of green-itude would be resource consumption per unit of GDP. The U.S. in facts is quite respectibly green on such a measure: not quite so green as a few small Western european nations, but as green as the larger ones, and far greener than most middle income and poor nations of the world.

    But then I went and took their survey, and I find its even worse than I imagined. They don’t even measure actual resource consumption, but rather attitudes about resource consumption. It isn’t enought that you use cold water, eat local food, or buy used goods. You have to do it for the environment. If that doesn’t qualify as an indicator of the degree to which environmentalism has become a religion (God cares not only about your actions, but your motives and inner thoughts!), I don’t know what would.

  6. While I’m not going to defend the American consumer, this is perhaps not the best measure for comparison. Keep in mind that the US is much larger than any European country, and is also less dense with less public transport. Often times in the US, the only option is the car.

  8. I agree with Mr. Me.

    Comparing the United States, a nation of 300 million people, to Germany, a nation of 80 million isn’t really that valid. A better comparison is between the United States and the European Union as a whole. Undoubtedly the U.S. loses in that comparison, too, but not in the same way and with more comparable extremes and variety (I’m guessing people in Trondheim don’t bike for much of the year–though they may ski–and people in Kefalonia may commute by *boat* to Patras and vice versa).

    Also, population density really matters. The United States has only about 80 people per square mile; Germany has nearly 600. In such tight quarters, Germans all necessarily live much closer to jobs and big cities and transit hubs. Americans don’t walk or bike to work as much in large part because they may have very large distances to cover (and no social security network to support them if they can’t find a job close by, as is the case in Germany).

    Also, keep in mind that Germans waste tons of gas every year on their Autobahnen–either idling in traffic jams or racing on stretches without speed limits at 180 mph or more. These kinds of carbon-wasting and carbon-intensive practices UNDOUBTEDLY negate much of what is “green” about German transportation predilections otherwise.

  9. I’m starting to think that Charles may be the most muddled ‘intellectual’ I’ve ever come across. Please make some effort to distinguish between a sample of something and an accurate picture of it. You present one data point (from, as noted above, a very flawed survey), and use that to slander everyone in this country. Being able to cherry pick one element of a survey that fits into your moral framework of the good guys/bad guys is not a special talent. Any hack can do that.

    Also, by way of friendly advice, try to be a little more creative (and meaningful) than adjectives like ‘worst’. How about: “On average, the american consumer produces more CO2 per capita than any other county in the world.”? But then you might actually risk conveying some sort of information to people, which I gather is not really a concern of yours.

  10. I’m an American living & working in Germany. I bike to work every day. There are many dozens of bike-rack spaces on both sides of the building in which I work, and often I have to root around to find a free spot. This, in a place where the weather is generally shittier than in Seattle.

  11. I guess some of us still don’t have the optimism to ride our bikes around SUV’s without insurance. Unless every time you step out the door you wave goodbye to your face.

  14. My theory: Germany (and Europe generally, and parts of the U.S. East Coast) was set up to function long before cars were around. It was built for feet/hooves, slow and local.
    Here, we drive because we live in a world designed for cars. It’s not ONLY because we’re lazy, overindulged pigs. I don’t want to bike on 23rd, or Denny, or Rainier, or Westlake… Yuck, and scary.
    Picture those Richard Scarry books—where Huckle, Lowly, and all the fit piggies live in what looks like a cozy Bavarian village. Walkable/bikeable villages are dreamy.

  15. I live in Auburn, work and educate myself in Seattle, and I do not own a car. I travel everywhere by train, bike, and bus, by choice. You people are a bunch of fat fucks.

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