“What’s the use of a fine house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?

(Henry David Thoreau)

I’ve enjoyed the writings and philosophy of Thoreau for a long time.  Growing up on a farm with our very own scaled down version of Walden pond gave me nearly limitless area in which my mind could wander as a youth.  Although I am, by many aspects, a proponent of an agrarian lifestyle and a great fan of nature, I haven’t ever considered myself much of a staunch environmentalist.  I have, however, considered myself a student of economic theory and a fan of free and open markets.  I now find myself attempting to balance in practice what could be considered polar opposite philosophies – Environmentalism vs. Capitalism.

Proponents of each philosophy often antagonize each other.  One politically fights for the rights of the environment as defenseless entity, the other fights unmercifully for the quest of property rights, individual rights, open markets and profit.  Often the ideals are competing and place the environmental lobby at odds with economic pursuits.  At this odd juncture in our human existence, these two competing ideals must work together.  I would submit that each side not only must work together, but need each other.  This is one of those rare moments in history where competing philosophies have the same objective.

As builders, many of us have tried to follow the principles of reducing waste and maximizing efficient use of resources.  This is not only sound environmental stewardship, but it also makes excellent business sense.  We have often been at odds with environmentalists that demand ever fewer developments and ever greater density, much to the chagrin of our clients.  But the enemies we face are now common.  Fossil fuels are a finite resource that are becoming ever more expensive to move to market. When they do get to market, more and more people and businesses are competing for these scarce resources.  Economic law dictates to us that decreasing or static supply coupled with increasing demand raise prices.  The gas price shocks of a couple of years ago were the final push needed to tumble into a deep recession and there is no doubt that the excess dollars printed to ward off a severe depression will at some point cause inflation, further enhancing that ever skyward push in prices.

The nation that wins the race to develop viable and sound alternative energies and consistently develops and builds buildings and infrastructure that reduce consumption of scarce resources will own the next century economically.  Strikingly enough, the nation that does this will also lead the globe into an era of environmental stewardship never seen since the dawn of the industrial revolution.  The industrial revolution brought with it economic prosperity and economic freedom never before seen.  It also brought with it an insatiable requirement to consume energy and other resources.  Perhaps an ugly side of capitalism is that in many cases it takes no prisoners.  But the beauty of free markets is that capital flows to where it is most effective.  Currently, capital is most effective (and more available) for designing and constructing buildings that require less energy, energy production that requires fewer fossil fuels and leaves less waste by-product in its wake, and those practices which promote energy independence.  As developers, builders and contractors we may not fully realize our potential to be at the forefront of a vast and changing energy landscape, but we are.  In fact, our clients not only wish this from us, but expect it from us.

Environmentalism and Capitalism do indeed make strange bedfellows.  But they need not.  For the first time in my lifetime, the goals of the “Greens” align directly on this issue with the goals of the “Capitalists”.  Free markets and environmentalism singing the same tune?  If past distrust of each other can be worked out, the current energy era will be unlike anything we have ever seen.   There is no human force more powerful than pure idealism coupled with a profit motive.  At this select moment in history, these two forces are in agreement.