Green Cotton

Gore is on a roll. In fact, he is on fire. As noted in this quote of the day on TreeHugger, Al rightly puts the fuel in the fire, by strongly urging environmental political action to tackle our planetary crisis. His argument is that we need market driven change to be supported and reinforced by policy, otherwise we will not move fast enough.

I could not agree more. We need improvements in both arenas if we are to successfully overcome the natural resource and human health crises that we face, and the green cotton/fashion industry is a good example. When it comes to fashion, consumers have tremendous pull in terms of buying choices that ultimately drive markets markets. On the other hand, companies make choices in terms of production, souring, marketing and transportation. They have choices and can choose to move in one direction or another for example on pesticide use, resource management, manufacturing, labor choices, transportation options, and product sourcing. Retailers can also move markets based on the decisions they make on a daily basis. Finally, governments play an important role as well by the creation and enforcement of business laws and regulations. By imposing limits on carbon dioxide emissions, land-use rules, and pesticide use and labor, they can have a tremendous impact on the kinds of choices that companies are allowed to make.

As such, it becomes clear that the greening of the planet is manifested in a constant triangulation of three important constituencies:

• Consumers
• Companies
• Governments

Each constituency plays a crucial role to play in moving toward sustainability and preservation of critical natural infrastructure. As we embark upon the 21st Century, we need to be most cautious of our choices in everything that we do. If we do not, unfortunately there may not be a 22nd Century for our great grandchildren to enjoy. Thank you, Al for your inspirational words.

clipped from www.treehugger.com We face a genuine planetary emergency, we cannot just talk about it, we have to act on it, we have to solve it, urgently. … Last week the world celebrated the 20th anniversary of a great success story. A hole in the ozone layer was discovered in 1985. And then, in the following year and a half, action took place. All of the market initiatives are incredibly important. The market allocates more money in one hour than all of the governments allocate over a year’s time. But governments set the rules of the road and determine how markets allocate capital and make decisions. And there should be no mistake that this crisis, the climate crisis, is not going to be solved only by personal action and business action. We need changes in laws; we need changes in policies; we need new leadership and we need a new treaty. We need a mandate at Bali during the first 14 days of December this year to complete a treaty not by 2012 but by 2009,