We don’t have to take ourselves so seriously, I think. Internet Adds 12th Website is an article in the Science and Technology section of the Onion today about how China has added a 12th web site to the Internet “for the enrichment of the nation and the advancement of lasting social stability”. This is funny! And there is so much to be gained from acknowledging the humor here, and then moving forward.

I think in order for China to move into a more liberal system, where public goods like the environment are considered more fully, there needs to be an understanding and an acknowledgement of the system from which China is emerging.

Looking today at the China Greentech Initiative, an information-sharing web site for the collection and analysis of information about the greentech movement in China, where my contact Ellen Carberry is affiliated, and CGI’s aim of helping to “facilitate the collection, analysis and sharing of research on the evolving greentech market in China” reminds me of Ma Jun’s China Water Pollution Map.

China Greentech Initiative’s development of an open-source China Greentech Report makes me think of Ma Jun’s water pollution information sharing web site. The crux of the enviromental movement in China is access to information. We’re reminded by the BeiDa professors in the film though, that even when the information is provided, the public needs some background information connecting pollution and health effects. Enter Roots & Shoots! To me, this is all coming together really nicely and I’m getting excited about potential directions that we can continue to take this project forward. Ellen and I talk on the phone later this week about how we can potentially work together and I’m looking forward to thinking about what we can do to help bolster and strenghten this movement.

In the Green Reason, we talk with Ellen Carberry, Venture Partner at HAO capital, who is quoted in the China Daily today, in this article about the uncertianties surrounding green investment in China, Green Investment Will Keep Growing.

I think this is a promising direction in which to go forward, and I plan to send Ellen a follow-up note to see if she has ideas about going forward. The development of green tech in China is a direction that we have talked about going with the Green Reason. It isn’t as catchy as telling the Roots & Shoots story in China, but there may be more to gain from highlighting this movement.

First, it is ironic and kind of sneaky that this controversial web filtering software has been labeled The Green Dam. I’m sure that point has been made before, but I didn’t find any record of it, so I’m claming it!