When I think about who is driving the global shift from enviromental explotation to enviromental stewardship, I think of David Suzuki and tree huggin' hippies. I do not typically think of Lumberjacks and the United States Navy. But recently, I have begin to understand that my un-enviromental stereotypes can be seriously misleading. 

For instance, when I think of the United States Navy, and where they fit on the scale of eneregy effiecency, I would jump to the conlcusion that they are terrible for the environment. They are the largest single consumer of fossil fuels in the united states, and it could be argued that they violently defend a western addiction to oil. As such a large consumer and international powerhouse, there actions resonate around our pale blue dot - and it seems their actions are turning shades of green. The US Navy is set to become a global leader in green technology.

This is a calculated strategy to save US lives, reduce costs, and better protect the homeland. It was not the Navy jumping on the Prius electic-powered bandwagon.  But Does it matter that this great reform was motivated by cold calculation rather than an ethical responisbility to our planet?

With the amount of money the US Navy spends on energy, diverting those funds to developing and buying green technology will have serious fallout for upstart industries and their technology - technology that will one day power civilian transportation. 

Another example of a green industry paradox is Siliviculture (aka Foresty). Noramally, I would be quick to judge a truck rolling down the highway full of freshly hewn timber as the irrepriable distruction of wild habitat. Yet, the timber industry - with the help of government regulation and cinsumer pressure - has been responsbile for growing the amount of forest on this plant in many parts of the world.

Europe for instance has grown back 30% of the forest that was desroyed in the previous centruy - and done this through sustainable forestry practices. It is mostly in the developing world where forestry companies are not subject to strong government regulation and social pressures to practice responsible harvesting. No doubt this needs to change, but hopefully, with your help, it will.

All this is not to say we should stop printing doublesided and start a few more wars - but it is to say that we need to think a bit deeper about what is green and what is not. It is important to realize that everything we humans do needs to be touched by enviromental stewardship. We should not shun any industry that takes up this banner, regardless of what sterotype that industry falls into.