Thursday, May 07, 2009

Greening Palestine

A "Green Building conference in the West Bank"? Seriously:
Scientists on the Al Quds faculty were already running a project treating university wastewater to make it drinking quality and then pumping it around campus for irrigation.
That is cool. If only university campuses over here could be so advanced.

This is basically a double-barreled feel-good story for me. But:
To be frank, today’s exhibition will never make the headlines of the Western media. Where’s the thrill in optimism in a region that for centuries could be relied upon instead for conflict? But I’ve seen it with my own eyes. A new generation of youth is preparing to make Palestine a greener place to live. In two days on campus, no one ever asked my religion. When it comes to caring for the planet, it did not seem to matter.

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