Bright green environmentalism

"Neo-environmentalism" and "Ecomodernism" redirect here.

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Bright green environmentalism is an ideology based on the belief that the convergence of technological change and social innovation provides the most successful path to sustainable development.

Origin and evolution of bright green thinking

The term "bright green", first coined in 2003 by writer Alex Steffen, refers to the fast-growing new wing of environmentalism, distinct from traditional forms.^[1] Bright green environmentalism aims to provide prosperity in an ecologically sustainable way through the use of new technologies and improved design.^[2]

Proponents promote and advocate for green energy, electric automobiles, efficient manufacturing systems, bio and nanotechnologies, ubiquitous computing, dense urban settlements, closed loop materials cycles and sustainable product designs. "One-planet living" is a commonly used phrase.^[3][4] Their principle focus is on the idea that through a combination of well-built communities, new technologies and sustainable living practices, quality of life can actually be improved even while ecological footprints shrink.

The term "bright green" has been used with increased frequency due to the promulgation of these ideas through the Internet and recent coverage in the traditional media.^[5][6]

The term Neo-environmentalism has emerged to describe an environmentalist view that is optimistic that technology and the capitalistic business model can resolve the ecological crisis that faces the Earth. It dismisses traditional green thinking (which emphasizes limits and the transformation of societal values), as naive and insufficiently engaging to be widely embraced.^[7] Neo-environmentalism recognizes there is a problem of sustaining industrial society on the Earth but sees part of the solution in nuclear energy, biotechnology, synthetic biology, nanotechnology, geo-engineering and GM crops.^[7][8][9]

Dark greens, light greens and bright greens

Alex Steffen describes contemporary environmentalists as being split into three groups, "dark", "light", and "bright" greens.^[10]

"Light greens" see protecting the environment first and foremost as a personal responsibility. They fall in on the transformational activist end of the spectrum, but light greens do not emphasize environmentalism as a distinct political ideology, or even seek fundamental political reform. Instead they often focus on environmentalism as a lifestyle choice.^[10] The motto "Green is the new black" sums up this way of thinking, for many.^[11] This is different from the term "lite green", which some environmentalists use to describe products or practices they believe are greenwashing.

In contrast, "dark greens" believe that environmental problems are an inherent part of industrialized civilization, and seek radical political change. Dark greens believe that currently and historically dominant political ideologies (sometimes referred to as industrialism) inevitably lead to consumerism, overconsumption, waste, alienation from nature and resource depletion. Dark greens claim this is caused by the emphasis on economic growth that exists within all existing ideologies, a tendency referred to as "growth mania". The dark green brand of environmentalism is associated with ideas of ecocentrism, deep ecology, degrowth, anti-consumerism, post-materialism, holism, the Gaia hypothesis of James Lovelock, as well as support for a reduction in human numbers and/or a relinquishment of technology to reduce humanity's impact on the biosphere.

More recently, "bright greens"' emerged as a group of environmentalists who believe that radical changes are needed in the economic and political operation of society in order to make it sustainable, but that better designs, new technologies and more widely distributed social innovations are the means to make those changes - and that society can neither shop nor protest its way to sustainability.^[12] As Ross Robertson writes, "[B]right green environmentalism is less about the problems and limitations we need to overcome than the “tools, models, and ideas” that already exist for overcoming them. It forgoes the bleakness of protest and dissent for the energizing confidence of constructive solutions."^[13]

International perspective

While bright green environmentalism is an intellectual current among North American environmentalists (with a number of businesses, blogs, NGOs and even governments now explicitly calling themselves "bright green" - for instance, the City of Vancouver's strategic planning document is called "Vancouver 2020: A Bright Green Future"^[14]), it is in Northern Europe, especially Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, that the idea of bright green environmentalism has become most widespread and most widely discussed. For instance, the official technology showcase and business expo for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen is called Bright Green in reference to this idea,^[15] while the Danish youth climate activism movement is called Bright Green Youth.

An Ecomodernist Manifesto

On April 14, 2015 An Ecomodernist Manifesto^[16] was issued^[17] by John Asafu-Adjaye, Linus Blomqvist, Stewart Brand, Barry Brook. Ruth DeFries, Erle Ellis, Christopher Foreman, David Keith, Martin Lewis, Mark Lynas, Ted Nordhaus, Roger A. Pielke, Jr., Rachel Pritzker, Joyashree Roy, Mark Sagoff, Michael Shellenberger, Robert Stone, and Peter Teague^[18]

See also

References

External links

• Appropedia, the Sustainability Wiki
• Wiser.org: The Social Network for Sustainability
• The Next Green Revolution – Wired magazine
• A Brighter Shade of Green: Rebooting Environmentalism for the 21st Century – WIE magazine
• "Go Bright Green" – article in the Guardian
• Steffen's own explanation of the difference between bright, light and dark greens
• The Viridian Design Movement