They certainly make strange bedfellows, Moriarty says.

Question: Are development and environmentalism compatible?

Jim Moriarty: I think development and environmentalism are strange bedfellows. They have to get along but it’s pretty easy for them not to get along and I see so many examples where development happens in what I would subjectively just call in an unthoughtful way. Oh, here’s a sand dune in Florida. It’s only how much? Oh, sure, I’ll buy that. Yeah, I’ll put a McMansion here. What do you mean there’s a hurricane that comes through here every year? What? There’s not just one hurricane? There’s actually four hurricanes that come through here every year? I’ll build it anyway. What do you mean the insurance industry has pulled out because they’re not insuring this region? Build it anyway. So part of that for me almost borders on ignorance or stupidity or just too much wealth, but I believe that development and environmentalism can get along wonderfully if you’re seeing all the things that are happening kind of under the lead certification umbrella and just the big shift that people have in saying, “Hey, I can save money on my energy costs if I do this to my house,” and “Oh, I live in- near Duke Energy and they’re actually going to pay me to do some of these things so I don’t have to shell out $100,000 for solar panels. I can actually do it in a way that’s affordable to me.” That’s pretty cool.

Recorded on: 9/27/07