When Money Meets Mouth (or, Envisioning a Cat-Poop-Fueled Utopia as part of Saving Darfur)

My car's engine light came on again, just as it always does, right before inspection time. Damn. As expected, everything was okay; only the emissions were failing inspection. For a moment I was annoyed: that's more money I'll have to pay out. Then as I thought about it, these were the same policies I supported: wasn't I all about protecting the environment, and clean air? Yep. So I shook my head, choosing to blame my luck instead of mumbling some inarticulate garbage about the government.

That's the fear that defenders of the status quo hang over challengers: "You want environmentally safe cars? Are you willing to pay for it?" Yes I am, but I really shouldn't have to.

No sane or honest person will say that the oil-based cars don't get favors from the government – What is the U.S. military over the last few decades except the oil industry's enforcer? Why are oil companies hitting record profits and gas prices are still going up? The oil industry reminds me of a common breed of bully: they're big and bad, but behind that identity you don't find actual strength, you find privilege.

It's a clichéd defense: "We could make things environmentally safe, but those technologies are expensive." Yeah, they're expensive because they don't get the breaks that oil companies do. If we could take all the breaks and favors so obviously given to the oil industry and direct it toward environmentally safe cars, the next day we'd be driving a hundred miles a day in cars fuelled by cat poop.

Until a cat-poop-fuel utopia is realized, I'm willing to pay a little extra for environmentally safe products.

I would love it if electricity for my house came from wind power as opposed to nuclear power. That's why I tack on a bit in my electricity bill to kick-start the wind-power industry. I look forward to the day the oil industry has to come around begging in the same way. Money, meet mouth.

I was similarly thrilled recently when I stumbled across a way to fight against the killings in Darfur. Very simply put, Chinese oil companies support the government in Darfur. (Winking toward the late Mr. Vonnegut, this is going to be humanity's epitaph: We all died because we wanted more oil.) Fidelity invests in these Chinese oil companies. Fidelity also administers my day-job's 401k program. So hell yeah, I signed the petition, and contacted Fidelity and told them to divest. That 401k cash might be headed for an IRA. It's not something I'm crazy about doing, but it's no sacrifice when you take a stand against people supporting genocide. (See Fidelity Out of Sudan and SaveDarfur.org for more info.)

Aside: This is part of the reason I avoid international investing. Environmental and worker laws in the USA might not be perfect, but they are at least better in non-democratic countries. You know, like Saudi Arabia – where we get all our oil.

So we come to my novel, Where Did This Come From? and my recent entry into Carbon Neutrality partnership with CarbonFund.org. Am I crazy? The book is just starting out and I'm slicing some of the profit already?

Yes I am. I'm also breaking my arm as I pat myself on the back. Money and mouths are often so far separate, I was excited to find these opportunities to send them on a blind date. For me, the only real way to lead is by example, and a powerful way to set an example is to speak the universal language: cash.

Thinking people like you and I need to make it known we're serious about protecting the environment and protecting human rights, even if it means we're losing a couple bucks. Because no amount of money we save is going to buy back our souls.

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Larry Nocella is the award-winning author of the novel Where Did This Come From? available at Amazon and Xlibris and other fine online book stores. Where Did This Come From? is also available as an eBook. For more info, visit Larry Nocella's website at http://www.larrynocella.com/.