Last Friday, Al Gore and a UN panel on climate change won the Nobel Peace Prize.  Certainly this wasn’t the first you’ve heard of Gore and his post-2000 election crusade to tell the world the realities of global warming. (To be fair to Gore, he began telling this story long before he rose to the national stage as a politician.)

While Gore did not bring environmental concern to the forefront of international dialogue single-handedly, his film and all of its awards have made it okay to care about the environment. In fact, many think that going green is trendy or even sexy.  Regardless of what the tipping point may have been, you can’t go anywhere or read anything without someone at least talking about the environment, no matter which side of the global warming debate they belong to.  (In fact, today is Blog Action Day.  As such, over 15,000 bloggers are all talking about the environment - this one included.)

As a result of this phenomenon, companies have gone green, recycling is easier than ever before, being carbon conscious is better than being carb conscious, bands tour on biofuel buses, and sustainability is the way to go.  And the coolest part? Young people are at the forefront of this movement.

While young people have historically been at the helm of many revolutions, today’s green movement should make cities sit up and take notice.  Here are three reasons communities should listen when their younger citizens talk about the environment:

1. It helps sell your city.
Whenever I meet someone from Portland or Austin, or even anywhere that I can get around easily, I tell them what a great city they have.  Let’s face it: if you’re young and are on a limited budget, not having to rent a car for a weekend away is an extremely attractive proposition.  Same goes if I’m looking for a place to live.  Every expense I can save (gas, car, and the most valuable of all: time) is another than can be directed elsewhere (charities, shopping, the local art scene).  Green cities sell themselves both to tourists and transplants.

2. It makes your city a better place to live.
Improving air quality is better for residents.  Search all you want, you won’t find any studies that say smog is healthy or that not having bike and jogging trails helps people stay active. By greening your city via public green spaces or even by instituting a better recycling plan, your community will look better, smell better, and make the people who call it home better.

3. It gives young people a chance to lead.
Young people aren’t waiting to be handed any sort of leadership baton – they’re actively pursuing chances to hone their skills today.  As a result, they’re starting conservation groups and even environmental mixers left and right.  Whether they’re actually founding a nonprofit or just getting some friends together to clean up a lake, by leading the pack when it comes to the environment, young professionals are gaining important skills that can be employed anywhere.

So the choice isn’t as hard anymore.  When your community goes green, everyone wins.  And you don’t have to worry about if anyone really wants this.  Just find your nearest group of young people and ask.

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