Small Steps Are Better Than No Steps

Before looking deeper into the environmental problems facing our world in a formal academic setting I was quick to say that technology would be a major factor in solving these problems, and to be honest, as I gain a better understanding of the issues and the schools of thought I still believe that. However, I have come to recognize why some environmentalists are critical of this view. In todays world that has become so invested in, and even driven by, technology its far easier to believe that technology will eventually save us instead of adressing the problems in a more drastic way. By putting your faith in technology, the average person can sit back and wait for environmenatally friendly technological advancements to come around and fix our problems, for the general population its a belief that requires very little work or adjustment on their part. That being said, I still believe in technology. At the same time, I full-heartedly acknowledge that to date technology has been far more detrimental to the environment than it has been positive. Not only in making it easier and faster to deplete the planet's resources, but it has also created a surge of unprecedented consumerism in developed countries. Not only do we now have ipods, but we need a new ipod every year, not to mention the latest cell phones and computers. These technological advancements are driven by profits and consumerism and not only do not help the environment but create a society of waste and want that makes it very hard to rally people to help the environment.

I realize all this sounds like I'm saying technology is bad, but i still believe in it, and I suppose thats partly true. However, technology has developed to a level that it cannot all fall under one all-encompassing category. The chainsaw, machine gun, i-phone and reusable energy have virtually nothing in common other than that they were all at one time technological innovations. There is lots of harmful technology but there is an increasing amount of good technologies that are helping the developed world 'clean up their acts' (granted, not enough, but still). One thing that studying at AU has made me realize is that man's greed and self-interest can cause unimaginable damage, but man's intelligence and imagination (to use a word from class) can produce even more amazing ideas and advancements. I have yet to read or see anything that has deferred me from the idea that environmental solutions and the global economy are going to have to find a way to work together not against each other. Aside from a large scale disaster (which at this rate is not out of the question) trying to localize our economy that is increasingly and actively becoming global is not feasible. There is a lot of talk and complaining about a lack of solutions, but so far the only place i see any real improvements being made is in the area of technology, positive technology. I believe there is a way to provide profitable incentives to persuade governments and corporations that going 'green' can be good for them as well as for the world and i see this happening through positive technologies.

I will be the first to admit that my knowledge in the area is limited and I may be overly optomistic, perhaps to a counter-productive extent, and perhaps even lacking in my own imagination when it comes to the state of the economy, yet i see the development of positive technologies as the most viable route to feasible solutions. We must divide 'technology' into categories of positive and negative when it comes the environment, once that happens environmentalists can stop being divided on this issue and stop fighting against the technologies that are helping. Even if you don't believe that technology can save us, there are technologies that are helping, and small steps are better than no steps.