This “green” movement is very similar to the Obama candidacy — expectations set way too high. In addition, you can’t coerce people into adopting environmentally-aware policies with threats. Engineers know that there is no free lunch, and it’s all about making trade-offs amongst alternative solutions.
While visiting my son at school, I came across an article in the school newspaper that detailed the virtues of the new artificial surface used on the soccer field. The article proclaimed the wonders of the new surface that “will save the environment because they won’t have to use lawn mowers to cut the grass…” (hmm). I wonder if the writers thought about the chemicals used to make the synthetic surface, or the energy consumed to install the grass, or the run-off from the polymers… Rest assured that some years down the road, the same paper will exclaim that the synthetic turf is bad for the environment.