Used to be, “Green” meant you belonged to a fringe political group. You were a Greenie. Maybe you hugged trees (or climbed them and refused to come down) or poured sand into the engines of logging equipment or voted for Ralph Nader no matter how badly it might alter the election. You were different. Special. An underdog.

Now with Green fever sweeping the world, Green stories overflowing from science news sites, political candidates fighting to be Greener than the next, I bet it’s no longer near as much fun being Green. Join the crowd, all you Greenies. Your bandwagon has now been fully jumped on. Your cause has even been usurped by the major political parties, according to this story in The Hill:

“The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper have both committed themselves to making the 2008 Denver convention the most eco-friendly Democratic convention ever.”

That much you could have expected. But this? The Republican National Committee is also planning to make its convention in the Twin Cities as energy-efficient as possible, the article states.

“I don’t think caring about the environment runs on party lines,” said RNC spokesman Chris Taylor.

The big question now is whether the Greening of the political conventions will translate down the road into sweeping changes in how the United States manages environmental issues. I suspect the Greenies have an opinion about that prospect, leading to my next question: Will we hear the Greenies above the political din anymore?