I profiled bright green environmentalism, which is a term that was coined by environmentalist Alex Steffen in 2003. Bright green environmentalism is about using innovation to have a bright environmentally friendly future. It opposes the idea that in order to live sustainably, we must return to a primitive way of living in which we abandon technology and infrastructure. Bright green environmentalists believe that through technology, we can innovate our cities so that they are sustainable.
Alex Steffen describes a spectrum of environmentalists: bright green, light green, and dark green. Light green environmentalists is based on individuals making changes which are better for the environment, such as taking a shorter shower or being vegetarian. Light green environmentalism relies on people seeing "going green" as the cool thing to do. Dark green environmentalists rely on the idea that communities can be sustainable by using local solutions for food and energy. McKibben can be classified as a dark green environmentalist because he suggests local solutions in Eaarth. All three types of environmentalism can work together to make our world innovative and sustainable.
I think the schools of thought which favor a backtrack to a primitive way of living would never work. Even if it was the best solution, I don't think there would be any chance that people on the planet would willingly throw away all the technological progress we've made thus far. In my opinion, bright green environmentalism is a more realistic and feasible approach to environmental reform.
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