A not-so-quiet revolution took place in Toronto this week that has climate change deniers on the ropes. 30,000 people from thousands of businesses and institutions occupied the city to talk about change; change in the way we build; change in the way we commute; change in the way we design cities. Change for the good of humankind. Many of those people suspected that collectively, members of the public are smarter than their political leaders—a lot smarter. And they decided to prove it by embracing a market vision for a sustainable, carbon-neutral future. That vision is all the fuel they need to build products and services the public wants. Imagine that. While our leaders calculate the political benefits of cozying up to the climate change denier lobbies, innovative businesses in North America are following public demand and just going out and changing the world on their own. Using the free market.
Just do it.
Weren’t those greens supposed to be socialists, at least according to the denier press? Wrong again. The greens long ago embraced capitalism because of its ability to respond to rapid social change. Talk about good business. It is not only small businesses on the ramparts of change, although the contribution of small and medium businesses is inspiring. No, there are the mammoth GE, Siemens, Honeywell, Eaton, and a host of other, innovation-driven big companies sweeping away the dusty cobwebs of muddled climate denier thinking. They are making money doing it too. Green Build Expo 2011 is one in a string of annual expositions managed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Once, a long time ago it may have seemed a fringe activity. Not any more. Want to see change in action? Try and attend next year’s Expo . . . and bring your local politicians. They might just catch up with the rest of us.
