One of the biggest barriers to success can be traditional political positioning, the legacy of past representations and stances. Organizations can be encumbered with their prior actions, permanently creating a legacy that will always be part of the fabric of their brand reputation. And rebellious types can permanently alienate the establishment. There is no market space that seems to embody this quite like the environmental arena, where “treehuggers” regularly do battle with “suits.”
Unfortunately, the rebellious treehugger and the corporate suit were very appropriate images as short a period ago as five years. That was before Al Gore put to bed the questioning of global warming’s legitimacy . Now, in my opinion, that dichotomy is hurting the green movement.
While appropriate positions to combat or not combat political activism, it’s time for these antagonistic positions to move on as part of our ecological history. Yes, there is room for further political discourse, but it’s no longer a world of black and white. This is particularly true now that a vast majority of Americans and companies see general environmental action as a good move.
The common ground has to be taking action, whether that’s using filtered water instead of bottles, or refitting factories and buildings for energy preservation. All actions equal forward motion. That’s the common ground.
What should be viewed as wrong is extremism on either side. The only requirement for participation in sustainability is a desire to participate, from activist to large energy companies. Positive activity fuels more activity. Everyone wins when we all move forward in leaps or baby steps. That’s the positioning of now, and the environmental view we should all encourage regardless of our political stance or history (suit image by Greg Verdino).
We need a sense of compassion for the problem, and forgiveness for past legacies… So long as there is genuine interest to move forward in a progressive fashion (as opposed to greenwashing).
That’s one of the reasons why I really enjoy the Live Earth work. It’s about embracing everyone in an effort to move forward rather than get stuck on old positions. In that sense, it’s a recognition of the very significant problem we have, something that affects every single person on this planet.
Great points — I’m reminded of how irksome the butchering of the term “progressive” can be. Progress takes time. But more importantly – less bickering, more action!
And in all fairness, the website treehugger.com is chock full of great content and is a valuable resource in my newsreader – certainly part of the solution.
Also, nice suit ;-)