In the feature story in Sunday's New York TImes Magazine, titled The Power of Green, Thomas Friedman presents a point of view that argues going green is best way for America to "get its groove back."

One doesn't need to read very far to appreciate the scope of Freidman's vision. In fact, it's all right there in his first couple of paragraphs:

One day Iraq, our post-9/11 trauma and the divisiveness of the Bush years will all be behind us — and America will need, and want, to get its groove back. We will need to find a way to reknit America at home, reconnect America abroad and restore America to its natural place in the global order — as the beacon of progress, hope and inspiration. I have an idea how. It’s called “green.”

…I want to rename “green.” I want to rename it geostrategic, geoeconomic, capitalistic and patriotic. I want to do that because I think that living, working, designing, manufacturing and projecting America in a green way can be the basis of a new unifying political movement for the 21st century.

The author admits his article is mostly manifesto. Speaking to Kai Ryssdal on American Public Media's Marketplace, Friedman states:

…it's really meant to lay out a new political philosophy that basically argues that green is the most strategic capitalistic — and I think progressive — ideology now for rebuilding America's future. By confronting climate change, by taking the lead in doing that, by setting really high standards for our industries and businesses, we are gonna stimulate, we can stimulate an enormous amount of innovation. Innovation that will really strengthen our companies to compete globally in what is clearly going to be the next, great, global industry, Kai. And that is clean technology.

In the interview with Ryssdal, there's another word that starts with g, r and two vowels that gets discussed: greed.

I like greed, Kai, because unless you get the marketplace working for you, you'll never really develop the scale of green technologies and the innovation you need. It's so important that prices be set at a level that they will stimulate the innovation that we need to really get green as a country and as a world. And the only thing that can do that is government setting high standards and then telling the marketplace, "May the best man or woman win. Go at it."

Green + greed = good food for thought. As usual, Thomas Friedman challenges us to think outside the box–this time about how environmentalism can be good for American business.

Carbon Neutral Journal's thoughts are brought to you by Hawtin Jorgensen Architects.

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