With remote in hand, and casually channel surfing cable TV this past weekend– I was amazed.  On several of the major channels there were numerous stories running (all at the same time!) related to green building and/or the protection of our environment.

On one of the major Arizona news stations, a piece was being aired about Build-It-Green, a new PBS television series focusing on environmental building.  A few channels over on CNN, Thomas Friedman in an interview with Wolf Blitzer, was calling for America's first Green President.  On yet another channel, there was Robert Redford talking about his new series of environmental programming on the Sundance Channel called "The Green".   The Discovery Channel recently aired "Green: The New Red, White, and Blue," a look inside America's emerging energy revolution. [more]

Never before have I witnessed such a groundswell of "green" consciousness in the mainstream media.

My parents, who still like to cut out news articles and mail them to me, recently sent a clip from their local paper on Bank of America's decision to pledge $20 billion towards environmentally-friendly initiatives.  And Bank of America isn't the only major corporation to be making such a commitment. 

According to Allison Linn, Senior Writer for MSNBC, "Companies ranging from retail titan Wal-Mart, to the investment firm Goldman Sachs are jumping on the green bandwagon, pledging to make tangible changes that go beyond the public relations-oriented 'greenwashing' of years past." [more]

Other recent environment-friendly big business commitments include Google, who just announced that it will be retrofitting it's Mountain View headquarters with the largest corporate photo-voltaic system in the US.  Yahoo Corporation recently announced that it has made a commitment to becoming carbon neutral.  Earlier this year in Washington DC, 10 major US corporations including Alcoa, Dupont, and General Electric made a groundbreaking announcement calling for a cap-and-trade system to address global warming.  Their historic initiative dubbed "A Call to Action," urges the federal government to establish limits for greenhouse gas emissions by creating market-based incentives.

When mainstream media, along with big and small businesses alike begin to act in concert to address what has become the most pressing issue of our times, change is possible.  I believe we're seeing the beginnings of a paradigm shift of thinking and action towards a more socially responsible and environmentally-caring society, that will prove to be as significant to our times, as the Industrial Revolution was in its time.

...And not a moment too soon.