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Posted Sunday, August 31, 2008 11:14 AM

Do Biodegradable Celebratory Balloons Make a Convention Green?

Adam B. Kushner
DENVER, Colo. — In the end, I thought the green goals of the Democrats’ convention were a neat little allegory for Dems' environmental policies during the Bush administration: it was a well-intentioned affair with some smart ideas that, ultimately, didn’t come to much.
 
The Denver convention that ended Thursday night was meant to be a super-sustainable week. (Compared to what?) But beyond carbon offsets—the effects of which are debatable—it was clear that the Dems compromised the greater green for some of the convention’s luxe trappings. Just picking a city as vast as Denver (there wasn’t nearly enough hotel capacity downtown; some delegates and reporters I spoke to stayed up to an hour away) without much transportation infrastructure meant thousands and thousands of cab and bus rides. The porous tents outside the Pepsi Center—such as the one that hosted Newsweek’s workspace—were air conditioned to below 70 degrees. And the Democratic National Committee’s own press office handed out hardcopy packets of each night’s speeches, even though they were all available online shortly after they’d been delivered. Bottled water was served. I don’t mean to suggest that the Democratic platform isn’t sufficiently hawkish on the environment—it will, as usual, be greener than the Republican one—but perhaps the party aimed a little too high with biodegradable celebratory balloons and organic-cotton fanny packs.
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