I wrote a while back about Arizona State University’s new degree programs in Sustainability. When I first read about it, I was just happy that there was a glimmer of hope shining through the fog of global warming and pollution. My logic was that if higher education was seeing this as a viable degree, then societal thinking about how to save the planet was changing. And, obviously, if we teach people how to implement ‘green’ technologies and practices, then someday we might be smart enough to save ourselves. This article from FastCompany makes my happiness even more complete. Business executives are all over this sustainability degree action:

The idea: If companies hope to operate in a world that increasingly demands sustainable strategies and practices, they’ll need employees who actually have the technical expertise. “Significant and high-profile corporations are saying we need to do this,” says director Charles L. Redman. Indeed, executives from Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), as well as Arizona utility companies APS (NYSE:PNW) and Salt River Project, have already joined the school’s board.

Students will learn to identify and provide solutions to both local and global challenges, taking on such issues as rapid urban growth, sustainable energy and materials use, and water management. At least a dozen research projects are under way, including one on strategies to combat the rising heat index around Phoenix, and another on a special strain of bacteria that could be used to create fuel.

If the white-collared people of the world are seeing this as a solid career choice, then doesn’t it follow that society overall has changed the way it thinks about natural resources and the environment and all the generally bad stuff mankind does to the planet? Was I just too pessimistic before? Because I totally thought it was going to take complete polar ice cap-meltage to convince the money-makers that the sky is falling.

Watch this if you prefer to stay pessimistic and laugh about the fate of the planet and how dumb humans are.

Posted by Alexa Harrington