Green Arthritis

• Author: Frank B. Friedman
• Pages: 431-451

Chapter 12:

Green Arthritis

This book has discussed some very positive changes in environmental

management and also some very negative challenges. In November

2000, my colleague Dick MacLean and I published an article in the Envi-

ronmental Forum entitled Green Arthritis,1where we essentially summa-

rized the negatives. In that article, we stated that “[e]nvironmental progress

has become ossified, as the major actors replay the battles of the past: envi-

ronmentalists persist in seeing old problems as continuing crises. Regula-

tors still triumphantly announce new enforcement actions. And industry

touts sustainable development while continuing mostly to seek simple com-

pliance.”2We anticipated a firestorm of protest against these conclusions,

having insulted virtually the entire environmental community.Instead, both

privately and publicly we heard from numerous sources in all the affected

constituencies that our thesis was correct.3While it is always pleasant to

have your positions validated, we were hoping that perhaps we were wrong.

Unfortunately, the reaction to the September 11, 2001, tragedy by many

companies has been further cutbacks and government is more concerned

with terrorism and other security issues, not the environment.4Perhaps the

future will allow all of us to be more optimistic. In any event, the following

describes the green arthritis syndrome and some possible cures. This book

and the suggested solutions contained in it hopefully provide potential cures

or at least palliatives for green arthritis. Many if not most of the points con-

tained in this chapter have been made in one form or another in this book,

but it is useful to put them together to understand this syndrome. Many of

you are now living with that syndrome or will soon be exposed to it.

We Have Come a Long Way, but Is It Far Enough?

If the environmental movement in the United States were a person, she

would be world famous and proud of her spectacular achievements that

have influenced and guided the world. But the Grand Old Lady is growing

431

old prematurely. She is not moving as fast as she once did. There are new

upstarts in Europe that seem to be drawing all the attention. Her friends that

were with her from the start in industry, governments, and NGOs whisper

that they are frustrated with the lack of progress and the loss of leadership

that she once held.

Of course, she might respond that things are different now and without

the crises that were constant in her younger years, she doesn’t need to be as

spry. Many would shake their heads and say this is just an excuse. They are

worried that her unwillingness to lead comes at the worst possible time,

when significant global concerns loom over the horizon. Is her arthritic con-

dition curable?

Perhaps, but it will require a combination of leadership and courage at

every level. The lack of leadership is mostly by the government, including

at the presidential level, but the U.S. Congress and business also bear re-

sponsibility, as do the environmental groups. Without clear direction and

in the absence of a crisis du jour there is a lack of commitment by all. Peo-

ple may talk about the importance of the environment, but they lack this

ethic when it comes to their daily lives, particularly if it may cause them

any inconvenience.

This criticism is strong (it will look to many that this is the Don Rickles

approach and I have insulted everyone!) but I think it is valid. In essence,

the premise is that the main players—government, the environmental

groups/citizens and business—are mired in the mindset that developed in

the beginnings of the federal efforts on environmental issues in the 1970s

and are unable to deal effectively with today’s issues and potential solu-

tions. TerryDavies, a Senior Fellow with Resources for the Future and a for-

mer senior EPAofficial, noted:

Much of the current control system is not working. No one can

understand or make sense of the laws and regulation, coopera-

tion is required from too many actors and the whole structure is

Kafkaesque....Both the environmental and business communi-

ties have hunkered down to defend the status quo....Theone

ray of hope may be the States, who continue to perform their

time-honored role of “laboratories of democracy.”5

The following contains some suggestions for EPA and the environmental

community, but the focus of the following is primarily on industry. A six-

step approach has been put forward that begins with an evaluation of the

possible competitive threats and opportunities, moves on to an evaluation

of internal resources, and concludes with the creation of a supporting cli-

mate for innovation. This book contains extensive material on how to move

432 Practical Guide to Environmental Management