I caught a glimpse of the network news tonight, where an Earth Day inspired discussion was highlighting both "sides" of the question of whether America could Afford to Go Green. On one side, business leaders and environmetalists are getting down to business to make something happen at the Fortune Brainstorm: Green event. On the other side, a dour spoilsport from the American Enterprise Institute cautioned that a recession was a bad time to spend money on something like this.

Watch this Frontline episode below (OK, it is 2 hours, but make it fullscreen and sit back for a comprehensive perspective on how growth and development built up an environmental debt our children will have to pay.)

Follow up:

Or maybe you already know the story. I am certainly not against growth and development, but we have spent the past 40 years or more accepting the notion that we could not afford to do better. When I saw that economist talking about prolonging the recession...I thought: They don't "get it" do they? They don't understand that there may be nothing on the other side of later.

We are experiencing an economic and social correction now. It is not just a downturn in the economy, it is a moment of change when many things that have been predicted for a long time are coming true. If this is a moment of change, and not merely a blip in the inexorable progress of industrialism...then we cannot assume there is a normal to return to.

Change creates great opportunity...and millions of people are responding to that with innovation and empowerment. This is not a time to sit on the sidelines and wait for things to return to normal...it is a moment of opportunity to be seized to create a better future.