I think that as Americans we don’t react to problems that don’t
directly affect us, rather we choose to only confront problems that finally spill into our daily lives. We don’t act until it’s too late. For example, think back to a few years ago when our airport security was weak. It took a national disaster to change policy and better the level of airport security. The same is true with environmental issues. We don’t feel the need to fix them, but if a major disaster were to occur, our minds would change. I think that Wessel’s view is correct in the way that at the rate we are moving, the future for the environment is grim. There are future implications that we need to address now, before it is too late. There has been some major progression toward lowering our economic footprint, such as the “go green” initiative and major recycling efforts put forth by our government. But this is just a start. Vermont is very well educated in sustainability, but we need to better educate other areas that do not have this green mindset.