Immoral environmentalism-electric cars in Israel?

*I have changed this post from the originial because of feedback that the end didn't make sense. It's somewhat of a rant still, but I tried to rein it in. :)

Choosing between causes has been a constant struggle for me, as I think it is for many 20-somethings right now. Specifically, choosing between environmental causes or human ones? Do I devote myself and my career to urgent environmental action, or trying to achieve justice for people? Really, it sounds so self-righteous, "What shall my cause today be?" But it's how I feel. Environment is the environment, it's the biggest victim I can think of. When I read about it or watch an informative video, I'm motivated to take action and join a worth-while project. But then I just can't get over how humans can look other humans straight in the eye, and still proceed to kill them, starve them, ruin them.

This dualism or "clash of causes" has recently popped up after I watched this TED speech by Better Place CEO Shai Agassi and now I'm all stirred up. It's 20 minutes, but I promise you it's worth your time.

Agassi's speech outlines his grand plan to widely distribute and create a sustainable infrastructure for electric cars. It's amazing, and I champion him and his vision. A few countries have committed to building this electric car system, and Israel was first. As Agassi is originally from Israel, this makes sense. There are already some charging or "swapping" stations here (I plan to seek them out and admire). I'm proud of Peres for being so forward thinking and into this cause.

However, the closing point of Agassi's speech bothers me. He compares our current need to transition away from our oil-dependent economy to the past need to transition away from slave-based economy. It wasn't only the economically progressive approach that also helped usher in the industrial revolution, but it was the moral choice. He closes with an urgent call to support our transition to electric cars, "If we don't, then we will lose our economy right after we have lost our morality."

Agassi doesn't seem to have extended the definition of "morality" to how a state treats the people within its borders, specifically in his home country. In this land, morality has long-since been reduced to an almost entirely relative term, and the economy is already headed for the crapper. But how can you argue with his logic? If you do, then you might as well go out and get yourself a slave. I agree with his argument though- environmental causes are moral and economic, so we should all get our heads out of the sand and support them. But what about when the environmental causes are morally compromised? What are you supposed to do then??

Alright, in this situation, I cannot expect Agassi to boycott, divest, or sanction (check out the BDS movement here) his own homeland, but it raises questions about the future of green businesses world-wide. The organic food movement in the US comes to mind. When it originally started to gain momentum, it was with the idea that it would small-scale and community oriented- a way to not only to eat well and improve our health, but to strengthen our civil society. Then, after a couple of decades, when there was now a market demand for organic food, it because industrialized, exploitative, and barely even "organic" anymore. Migrant workers on the big industrial farms are paid almost nothing, the farms are huge, the machines used to harvest pollute, and there is barely any more connection between the consumer and the source.

I know that any kind of business, whether it's environment-friendly or not, relies mostly on the laws of our economy to thrive. As I see it, this entails a certain amount blindness to the human aspect of the investment, as long as the region is stable and the labor is cheap. Call me a commie, I thought that there was some element of socio-political justice ingrained in the environmental movement, which would mean that investors look at not only a good economic opportunity, but also the human situation. They would maybe ask questions like, does this country treat it's people well, or am I supporting an unjust socio-political infrastructure by dumping money into this business, in this place. Am I really that naive to have assumed this? If so, then that's that. But if not, and this is supposed to be a pretense for the up-and-coming green businesses, then it seems, as usual, that all bets are off when it comes to this country and this conflict.

Article about new electric cars in Israel