Pow! (Right In The Kisser)

"Burning Man isn't free of social norms at all. The Playa fills up almost exclusively with 20-40 year-old economically privileged white heterosexual people, the majority of whom exist on a fairly narrow swath of the political spectrum: the place where hippie meets libertarian. If the festival were as effective as some believers think at conjuring away normative biases, that wouldn't be the case.

Then there's the stuff they take: the labor- and transportation-intensive costumes created for one-time use, the DIY climate control machines, the generators, the fire dancing, the drugs (which, with the possible exception of marijuana aren't green...at all), the packaging, the bottled water, etc. Some of the art is made of reused and/or reusable materials, which is great, but some of it isn't. I wouldn't expect DaVinci to limit himself to reused materials, but let's be honest: Most of the 'art" of the man is just 'look at this cool thing I made' for the Man. And, really, watching a giant hunk of wood and whatever else burn just for kicks is the epitome of wastefulness.

Burning Man is, at heart, a party—and it's one that thousands of people drive hundreds of miles to get to. It's great that they clean up after themselves when they're done, but driving that far to have a good time just plain ain't green.

I'm sure the Burners reading this would protest that the festival is physically away from the everyday world so that participants can get psychologically away from the everyday world. But going outside of nature to do it overlooks the answer that's been there all along. Our human and social norms seem limiting and arbitrary because, well, they are. What's not limiting and arbitrary? The complex forces and landscapes and patterns and interactions of the huge planet that we live on. The one that made us. And pretending not to see that is as silly as some of the costumes on display."

-- Cameron Scott, who never once mentions the cult aspect - few ever do - and, especially, not on a "green" blog for The San Francisco Chronicle.