Introduction

Sustainability and all things “green” have become the new buzzwords of the day. Noted journalist Tom Friedman has gone so far as to declare green the “new red, white, and blue” (Friedman, 2008: 170). Still, the meaning of sustainability and “greenness” remains as elusive today as it was in previous decades. Given this condition, we may ask: Could it be that some of the most hallowed presumptions and nostrums of the sustainability movement are either wrongheaded or badly flawed?

Years ago, Amory Lovins, one of the godfathers of the solar energy and energy conservation movement, issued a now-familiar dictum: “Pick the lowhanging fruit” (Lovins, 1971). As he has recently stated, we are awash with easy means of increasing energy efficiency and resource conservation, so much so that it “is mooshing up around our ankles…and the tree keeps pelting our heads with more fruit” (Charlie Rose Show transcript, 2006: 10). By this, he means that government, business and consumers should take advantage of the recently fallen and low-lying fruit by instituting efficiency and conservation measures that are most practically feasible, least costly and offer the most rapid payback. Simply put, investment in conservation – i.e., attic insulation, storm windows, energy-efficient compact-fluorescent lighting and appliances, aluminum and other recycling, etc. – provides, by far, the quickest and highest dividends to the consumers and producers across the board in reducing the load on the environment.