I’m not sure why I get Genre magazine. I think a few years back when I was doing the online dating thing (which worked out for me, by the way!) I got it as part of a “bundled” subscription. That was quite a while back, and I’ve never paid a dime for it, but it keeps coming.

I doubt I would buy it. Rob and I do tend to leaf through it (yes, it’s for the pictures) but there’s usually not much thoughtful content.

So what makes this issue “green”? Well first of all there’s green font on the cover. If that’s not enough for you, the smokin’ hot cover model is dressed in “100% Zimbabwean organic cotton pants” by PRPS and (I guess non-organic) boxers by Massimo for Target.

Oh yes, and there’s an article on page 62 titled “Global Warming is So Hot Right Now!” And to my surprise, despite some annoyingly ‘gay’ one-liners, there is some real insight here as to the politics of global warming:

“Luckily for you and me, the finger isn’t being pointed directly at us anymore, the American consumer who continues to purchase gas-guzzling SUVs, refuses to carpool to work, drives easily walkable distances, and uses energy-sucking incandescent light bulbs in lieu of the more energy-efficient fluorescent alternatives. The primary target has, in fact, become the automobile industry.”

In a nutshell, California has filed suit against the big six automakers, not just for creating “dangerous” products and lying about the danger (a la cigarettes), but for refusing to use the technology that already exists to boost fuel economy with low to zero emissions. No laws have been broken, but California is suing the manufacturers as a “public nuisance.”

Genre takes an admirably balanced approach: the auto industry has certainly mis-spent millions of dollars fighting legislation that tried to increase fuel efficiency, dollars which could have been spent actually increasing fuel efficiency. But consumers have so far not been astonishing in their commitment to “driving less, recycling more, buying more fuel-efficient vehicles and exercising a little less conservational prudence…. The responsibility rests as much with us as it does with the automakers and the utilities. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take an environmental catastropher to shake us all awake.”