Dear Oprah

I must admit, I watch your show sometimes though usually I'm at the gym and while I can't hear what's being said, if I squint hard enough I can read the closed caption and catch the drift of the topic. I'll also admit that sometimes, I'm impressed.

And sometimes, I'm not.

Recently, while sweating it out on the treadmill, I watched your show on how we could all live a greener life. The new green phenomena fascinates me and while I'm glad that Americans are finally talking about the crisis of resources and detrimental impacts, I am skeptical that people will actually change.

Take you, for instance. You were excited about the compact fluorescent bulbs, but were adamant that you could not shorten your hot shower. The message of the show, of course, was the message of all American endeavors -- we have choices. We get to choose what we do, when we do it, and how much of it we do. No one's going to tell us what we can and cannot do. This is, what we affectionately call, our right and our freedom as Americans.

Throughout the show your guests kept stressing that there were "little" changes we could make, like changing just two of our lightbulbs or buying green products, and that none of us really had to make dramatic changes in our lives that might affect our current lifestyles. By this time, I was cranking up the speed on the treadmill attempting to curb my burning frustration that 1) while small changes might be a good beginning, in order for the world (and specifically Americans) to reverse our negative impact on the enviroment, enormous changes in behavior and attitude need to take place and 2) my inability to run on hard pavement because of a damaged back forced me to run on an electric powered treadmill while I watched one television in a bank of televisions lined up along the gym wall.

But what really got me running was the irony of you, the great Oprah Winfrey, wealthiest woman in the world, unwilling to make changes because you cannot give up certain pleasures. Case in point: Long, hot showers.

I could spend pages of time lambasting the number of homes you own, the amount of excess you laud upon yourself (and your guest), and the overabundance of consumerism you pursue and promote, but your unwillingness to reduce your hot water usage by 5 or 10 minutes really gauled me.

We have many valuable resources that allow us to live the way we do in America, but for me, water is one of the most valuable. It provides food. It provides habitat. It provides life, in every way we might think of it, on this planet. And water is in danger. Serious danger. It's demise is evident all over the world. Look at Israel. Look at Sudan. Look even to your beloved South Africa.

With each stride on the treadmill I could hear myself shouting -- what if change in your water consumption kept a pod of whales alive? What if change in your water consumption saved a rainforest? Saved salmon? What if it helped stop the genocide in Sudan? What if, dear Oprah, a shorter shower allowed the families of your precious South African students to walk one less mile with large water pitchers on their head in search of this valuable resource?

I admire you, Oprah, I really do. You've raised important questions. You've got us thinking. That you were willing to produce a show on green choices when your life is an example of "moderate" excess is brave and honest and necessary. But come on. Five minutes less in a shower? Ten minutes less? Are you really going to suffer irreparable damage?

Sometimes you really impress me. Sometimes you don't. I must admit it's rare both happen in the same show at the same time. Change isn't easy. I know that. I struggle with it every day. But change, if we really are concerned about the health of this planet and our exsistence on it, must not only be meaningful, it must be significant. Change must hurt. I don't like it and I'm certain most Americans don't either, but they may be more willing to make those difficult changes if people like you commit to those changes as well.

Come on, Oprah, just five minutes. You can do it. You just need to make the choice.