Should you bother being 'green'? (Hint: No)

There's only one thing you can do to help the environment, argues Sharon Begley in Newsweek. And it doesn't involve wearing organic underwear

Does Earth Day make a difference?
(Image credit: Creative Commons)

"With apologies to a cliché that predates the advent of Earth Day by a year, it is easy being green. Too easy," says Sharon Begley in Newsweek. Anybody can buy "adorable reusable shopping bags" and "organic clothing," and anybody can recycle their wine bottles. But, unfortunately, the "only kind" of green action that "makes a difference" is contacting lawmakers and urging them to support new environmenal laws (think, a climate bill):

"All environmental progress [to date] has come through national- and international-level regulation—to be blunt, by forcing people and industry to stop doing environmentally bad things and start doing environmentally good things, not by relying on individuals' green good will or even the power of the marketplace.

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