Greenwashing.  Unfortunately, we are forced to learn yet another new term. Conceived by companies and politicians hoping to gaslight (there’s another vocabulary word) us into thinking all is well- and they are  helping to improve the world the way they claim.

Gaslighting: this term means folks are attempting to manipulate us, using psychological (words actions, etc.) to question our own thinking, to make us consider that the opposite of what we observe or feel is really happening.

Greenwashing:   A specific form of gaslighting, using misinformation and psychological interpretations to render us unable to realize that the claims that these entities are developing or delivering sustainable, biodegradable, environmentally conscious solutions to the issues we expect to have addressed are not really happening.

In the latter case, it means that our hopes of arresting climate change are being destroyed by folks who are greenwashing the (non)efforts they provide to improve our world.  While gaslighting has been going on for a while, the term was probably somewhere around 1944 when George Cukor brought his movie (Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotton, and Angela Lansbury) to the screens via Metro Goldwyn Mayer.

The greenwashing term is much newer.  It probably first came into use some 16 years ago.  That’s about the time that climate change was being noticed by a significant number of folks.  Folks who wanted us to change our habits so we can protect the world as we know it.  To preclude the icebergs melting and changing our shorelines forever.  Not to mention out ability to breath clean air.

But, now Governor Mike DeWine (R, of course) of Ohio, using the resources of ALEC (the American Legislation Executive Council), has signed legislation to redefine natural gas as a source of green energy.

I’ve written about ALEC many times.   This group, funded by the Koch brothers, has taken hold of a significant number of Republican State Legislatures.  They write the laws that are provided the legislators to convert to state law.  Moreover, those elected officials funded by ALEC are expected to render their loyalty to ALEC- not to the constituents who voted them into office.  (Tell me again how this is different than TheDonald’s attempt to subvert the 2020 election, claiming he won the vote that he clearly lost.  His minions aver loyalty to him and not our constitutional processes.)

In this case, ALEC’s effort was augmented by a dark money group, the Empowerment Alliance (a large funding agent is the Oil and Gas industry of West Virginia), to redefine natural gas (primarily methane, which is worse for global warming than is carbon dioxide) as “green energy”.  Tom Rastin, the head of the Empowerment Alliance (along with his wife, Karen Buchald Wright) are really the executives of Ariel Corporation (manufacturer of natural gas compressors), as well as supporters of TheDonald.

And, don’t think this battle is over.  These two WrongWing lobbying groups are aiming to pass this same law at a slew of other energy rich states. (Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia are the next  targets).

I do hope you attend that National Literacy Week conference today.  To make it more possible for you to discern what is really going on, from all the obfuscation.

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