One of the many disturbing things about the global financial ructions of the past few weeks is that climate change has disappeared from the news agenda. We really do seem to be short term animals, interested only in what’s on this side of the horizon. Hardly a surprise, perhaps, at a time when many people really are worried about their immediate future. But one implication of the media silence is that addressing financial problems and addressing global warming are antithetical, when so far as I’m concerned they are one and the same thing. Both are driven by our belief that unlimited economic growth is necessary and somehow sustainable.
So it was with surprise that last night I found myself agreeing with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who I usually think of as an insufferable windbag, who was being interviewed by George Negus on Dateline. Promoting his new book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution—and How It Can Renew America, the gist of Friedman’s argument was that ultimately economic and environmental fortunes are inextricably tied together. It got me thinking. If an inveterate free-marketeer like Friedman can see the link, and the need for economic reform around the idea of sustainability — and there’s probably no better moment for that than right now — then that’s a hopeful sign. But what do we need to do to get the rest of the media to take the idea seriously?
