The Convenience of Going Green

Here we are at the height of another save the world trend, "going green" it's the newest catch phrase for environmental awareness. Sure people have been obsessing over it for years on college campuses and in small but vocal environmental groups around the world but lets be honest most of us smile ad nod and go on about our day when it comes to conservation and global warming I'd even be willing to bet most people never form the thought again past the 30 second commercial spot between shows. We hear it, acknowledge it as some thing great some one else is doing, then move on, back to our lives. But trends come around as they often do and today as it does every time some world changing inconvenience arises, more and more people have jumped, arms and legs on to this years most recent tree hugging trend. Now don't get me wrong if there is a band wagon to jump on this is it, you can't compare this to greasy hair, the Spice Girls, or Razor scooters. It's a real justifiable trend and a good one. My problem is this, people who yesterday were driving their SUV's and throwing their cigarette butts or plastic water bottles out the window are today now so concerned about the welfare of mother earth and her resources. Why? Not for the good of human kind or God forbid the air we breathe but for the one simple selfish fact, money. They are tired of dropping $200.00 a week in fuel costs to maintain their fancy Escalades and Lexus' or even their Fords and Chevy's. Of course the Escalades and Lexus' still aren't quite on the bus after all they have reputations to maintain and dropping money on such a simple pleasure seems almost ominous.

Fast forward to a year from now, are we still going green, In my humble opinion not likely. The new trend will be finding ways to cheat the system, new fuels and modes of transportation that take less to operate. Car pooling would still be an option, accept in most rural areas where the gas prices really matter, people live so far from each other it would cost more to have a job than to be unemployed. My personal favorite however is remote work from home jobs, huge demand and massive wages I see being the trend of the present and wading far into the future.

I've read articles where supposed analysts have stated fuel prices could reach $10.00 a gallon by the end of 2010 and 12.00 - 15.00 a gallon by 2012. It seems unlikely but in the current trend not impossible by far. Big oil companies will be showing trillion dollar profits and still complaining that they aren't making enough money while the middle and lower class have sunk to poverty and resort to motorized bicycles for transportation. The unemployment rate climbs over 35% because companies can't pay their employees enough and service industry work becomes unreachable financially because fuel is so expensive and worker quality is so poor that simple things like pool service and lawn care are reserved for the rich and famous. And by the way I'm not talking about 2010 or beyond I'm talking by this time next year. Our government has failed us and in true political trend the rich have indeed gotten richer however strangely the poor have stayed the same it's those of us in the middle who continue to suffer with no where left to go but down, but today, today we're going green. Save the world, give to get.