Green Inc.

By Ben-Peter Terpstra

Read Green Inc. by Christine MacDonald, an environmental insider. In it, the "global warming" believer acknowledges that her "good cause" has gone bad.

"Social commentators have for decades criticized the growing gap between the rich and poor world," the environmental insider writes. And yet, she states: "In what seems like irony, this disturbing trend has been a boom for nonprofits."

Consider (p.21):

Organization	Individual	Title	Total Compensation*
National Park Foundation	James Maddy	Past president	$833,290
Wildlife Conservation Society	Steve E. Sanderson	president, CEO	$825,170
Natural Resources Defense Council	John Adams	Past president	$757,914
Environmental Defense Fund	Fred Krupp	president	$468,615
The Conservation Fund	Richard L. Erdman	exec. vice president	$461,576

Examine Al Gore's record too - as I have - and the gap between rich and poor widens, significantly. One Mc Mansion for me. One ecological hut for you.

And, where is the Condi Rice of the green movement?

"Hang on, where are all the powerful women, full stop?" I'm asking.

The solar glass ceiling is real: "Many early conservation clubs were whites-only establishments," amends Mac Donald. "Even some of the early national parks had ‘whites only' postings designed to keep out African Americans."

Mac Donald continues: "As the movement's grown, it's become more middle class, but few people of color have joined. According to one University of Michigan study, a third of mainstream green groups and 20 percent of government agencies dealing with environmental protection don't have a single person of color on staff."

And: "Of the top ten national groups, only one has a female chief executive."

Is green the new white? MacDonald's book says plenty about civil rights. Personally, I'm uncomfortable with Australia's green industry, where eco-tourists are happy to treat aboriginals as "guardians of the forest" and "rangers," but I shudder at liberal America's backwardness.