Greens need to grow up

[T_i_B]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/06/greenpolitics-activism

The green movement's addiction to student politics is now one of the main obstacles to real environmental progress. Too many environmental groups have failed to make the transition from emotional protest politics to serious policy-making. So, while campaigners throw things and get angry, they are failing to engage with the important detail of our catastrophically badly designed environmental policies.

What we need now is not emotion but "rational environmentalism".

The truth is that the current green policy framework was thrown together very quickly after politicians suddenly woke up to the fact that the environment had become a big issue for voters. But legislating in haste has made for poor policy design. Current policy is so bad that it is not even what economists would call "Pareto efficient" – in other words, we could simultaneously reduce emissions by more and save money.

There is, surely, a huge political opportunity here – to make things cheaper and greener at the same time. Politicians need to grasp it. But to make sure that happens, the green lobby should cut the custard and grow up.