January 16th, 2008
A: For sure, the energy industry is the most concerning, hands down. Why hasn’t it moved more quickly? Simply because the energy industry has such a strong hold on our government that very often the national interest is hijacked by very small oil interests. (That influence) may be slightly larger for energy interest – coal and these ridiculous corn ethanol subsidies, which are obviously not a good environmental option (because of the extensive watering and pesticides used to grow the corn) .
When I think about the energy industry, I actually think the biggest problem is not so much with the companies themselves; it’s with the legislation or the lack thereof, and our federal government. We don’t operate in a free market. The rules are skewed in the direction of coal, oil, things like that. What I would like to see happen is – and it very well could – is for us to say to these enormous interests, “We want you to be part of the environmental solutions.” And the way to do that is not to take away their tax incentives, but to give them more. The oil industry has to be part to the solution, and you have to give incentives for these companies to change. The challenge is right now, there’s no sense of carrot and stick. It’s usually one or the other. You’re either going to punish them or reward them.
Q: How does our country change this?
A: I think we need greater environmental leadership, leaders with vision and courage.
Q: What’s in the works for the LE, which is quickly becoming a brand?
A: I’ll continue doing the radio show – being with Sirius, I love doing it. I’ll have another book coming out in 2009, called “The Lazy Environmentalist: On a Budget.” And I am now talking with several networks about developing a LE television show. . . .Then, with Vivavi, we are now looking at opening our first major retail store in Manhattan, hopefully by this spring. We’ll be expanding on the showroom in Brooklyn, probably centralize it in Manhattan. I’m the spokesperson for Brita’s Filter for Good campaign and also a spokesperson for Clorox’s new line of natural cleaning products called Green Works – they’re 99 percent natural (see our story on Chlorox’s Green Works), which I think is awesome, because it was developed in response to consumer demand. So that shows there is a market. Consumers are demanding it.
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