I am all for preserving and protecting the environment, but for carmaker Audi to imply in their Super Bowl ad that we need a Stasi-like “Green Police” force  searching through our trash, setting up eco-checkpoints which violate the 4th Amendment, and illegally arresting people because of a purchase is beyond a misplaced message, it’s stupid and dangerous.

Seemingly Audi’s message is simple, a fascist state based on fear and big brother surveillance is the next step in addressing our environmental woes and only by complying with the “Green Police”  (ie buying the correct Audi) will you avoid arrest and earn societal perks like easing through eco-checkpoints. Beyond arrest Audi never reveals exactly what punishment is in store for the offenders, but we’re led to believe by a television news reporter that whatever the outcome, like in the case of the yellow-clad yuppie with the incandescent light bulbs, it will be a “tragedy.” What exactly is so tragic about this man’s punishment is anybody’s guess but you would have to assume it’s something far worse then replacing a few light bulbs.

Now I realize commercials are inherently simple-minded attempts to persuade people into buy products they don’t need, often pandering to the lowest common denominator through juvenile humor, but with the continued application of the Patriot Act and the warrant-less wire tapping, illegal search and seizure, and unlawful detainment of foreign prisoners that come with it, does a joke about America employing fascist tactics seem all that funny or appropriate?

On its website, Audi states the Green Police are “caricatures of today’s ‘green movement.’” But Audi also seems to endorse the faux-force, writing they are “a humorous group of individuals that have joined forces in an effort to collectively help guide consumers to make the right decision when it comes to the environment.”

Other forms of government throughout the world and even within the United States have already established their versions of “Green Police.” In the UK for example, the Green Police have the power to serve warrants, take property, and view business records based solely on the authority of a pollution inspecting network. New York City’s Department of Environmental Conservation has a team of twenty officers called the “Green Police” with the jurisdiction to enforce environmental regulations and issue citations to environmental violators. For instance, the Green Police currently have the authority to pull over vehicles thought not to be complying with emission standards.

Concerning a multidimensional issue such as this, the last thing we need is a car ad using fear or humor to marginalize an otherwise serious debate about the tug of war between our civil rights and the right of the government to legislate every aspect of our lives.

But hey, on the plus side I have another reason to dislike the music of Cheap Trick.

by: Harold Johns III

Artist Statement:
“I think that our distance from nature is already a cliché. City dwellers often have no relationship with animals or greenery. As a public artist I feel a sense of duty to draw attention to deficiencies in our everyday life. As a cultivator of eco-urban sensitivity, I usually go back to the sites to visit my “plants” or “moss”, sometimes to repair them a bit, but nothing more generally as they tend to get enough water from the air, condensation, and rain – especially in certain seasons. I also like to let them live by themselves. From the moment I put them on the street they start to have their own life. For me, the reaction of life on the street is also very important. I am curious about how people receive them, if they just leave them alone, or if they want to, take care of them or dismantle them. This is what makes my work similar to graffiti, although I am searching for a deeper social meaning and a dialogue with memories of the animals and gardens of my past in a small town in Central Europe. I believe that if everyone had a garden of their own to cultivate, we would have a much more balanced relation to our territories. Of course, a garden can be many things.”

Edina Tokodi studied graphic art and design at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts and also completed urban design course work in Milan, Italy. Todoki currently lives and works in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

See more of Todoki’s work here

In the late seventies, at the age of eighteen and with a seventh-grade education, Dolly Freed (a pseudonym) wrote Possum Living about the five years she and her father lived off the land on a half-acre lot outside of Philadelphia. At the time of its publication in 1978, Possum Living became an instant classic, known for its plucky narration and no-nonsense practical advice on how to quit the rat race and live frugally. And now decades later the good people at Tin House Books are reissuing Possum Living for the next generation of disillusioned people seeking an alternative to an economic system that uses everyone but only adequately provides for a few.

In her delightful, straightforward, and irreverent style, Freed guides readers on how to buy and maintain a home, dress well, garden, raise farm animals, dumpster dive, fish in public waters, avoid building permits, preserve herbs, make your own wine, cope with the law, stay healthy, save money, and be lazy, proud, miserly, and honest, all while enjoying leisure and keeping up a middle-class façade.

Thirty years later, Freed’s philosophy is world-renowned and Possum Living remains as fascinating, inspirational, and pertinent as it was upon its original publication. Especially her convincing argument that it’s hypocritical to buy meat in a store you wouldn’t or couldn’t kill yourself. This updated edition includes new reflections, insights, and life lessons from an older and wiser Dolly Freed, whose knowledge of how to live like a possum has given her financial security and the confidence to try new ventures.

Following her success as an author, Dolly Freed grew up to be a NASA aerospace engineer. She put herself through college after acing the SATs with an education she received from the public library. She has also been an environmental educator, business owner, and college professor. She now lives in Texas with her husband and two children.

Watch a documentary about Possum Living below.

Possum Living will be re-released in January 2010 but you can pre-order it now through Tin House Books. Read an excerpt here. 224 pages, $11

posted by: Brent Carter

Sometimes while researching a blog post you’ll find another site has already beat you to it. In this case, while gathering information on the most offensive architectural projects on hold due to the economic recession I came across Flavorwire’s list of  “Architectural Projects That Seemed Like a Great Idea at the Time.” Their list conveys many of my ideas in much simpler terms, so I’ve decided to abandon my effort and simply pass along the information from Flavorwire.

Included in the list are six projects, like the under water hotel known as Hydropolis (pictured above) in Dubai, that are so absurd in scope and cost you’ll wonder how anyone, even an international banker, could be convinced to build them.

Read the full list here

posted by: Brent Carter

“The Story of Cap & Trade is a fast-paced, fact-filled look at the leading climate solution being discussed at Copenhagen and on Capitol Hill. Host Annie Leonard (The Story of Stuff)  introduces the energy traders and Wall Street financiers at the heart of this scheme and reveals the ‘devils in the details’ in current cap and trade proposals: free permits to big polluters, fake offsets and distraction from what’s really required to tackle the climate crisis. If you’ve heard about Cap & Trade, but aren’t sure how it works (or who benefits), this is the film is for you.” (The Story of Stuff Project)

posted by: Brent Carter