The problem with “infrastructure”

For nature, building stuff, any stuff, is the issue

Our stuff writ large on the landscape (photo by Paul Greenberg)

When was the last time a building, a road, a car, a bridge made you happy? When was the last time you shut your eyes and listened to the sound of traffic and felt your heart soar? When have you ever taken a whiff of diesel exhaust and said to yourself, “that’s just what I wanted to smell”? And yet we build and build, invade and replace the natural world whenever we can. That nature is the “infrastructure” that gives us genuine happiness is often overlooked.

This idea is central to my opinion essay I have in the New York Times today called “We Need an Infrastructure Package for Nature.” Have a look. Let’s discuss. Let’s try to figure out a way to make that possible $2 trillion package coming our way work for the natural world.

Paul Greenberg is the author of The Climate Diet, 50 Simple Ways to Trim Your Carbon Footprint. Out today, April 13th, from Penguin Press