Page 50 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

The Green Industrial Revolution Chapter j 2 27

What California has learned and its citizens embraced is the basic concept of
“social capitalism”: clean environment and renewable energy can be profitable.
The citizens of the state do not want to see more oil wells off their coast or in
their parks. Nor do they want to import fossil energy fuels from other states,
which must violate their environments as well. Instead, the citizens of California
have embraced what the Europeans call “social constructions” whereby they
believe that both can happenda clean environment and profitable businesses.
The pathway has been set with government and the public sector taking the
lead in “greening public buildings” as well as procurement of “environmentally
sound technologies.” The private sector has rapidly taken the lead and appears
poised to implement “civic capitalism.” A win-win scenario is not far behind
for all Californians.