Notes on Sustainability
I had a nice chat with an entrepreneur in waste-to-energy yesterday; that’s always an experience I enjoy. Near the end of our talk, we broadened the subject matter to include the entire sustainability movement, at which point she lamented how fragmented all these efforts are.
There is no doubt that what she said is true, but a) isn’t it unavoidable? and b) it is necessarily a bad thing?
Legendary environmentalist Paul Hawken, known for his talks on this subject, notes that the push for sustainable modes of living is the largest single movement on the planet, though it has no organization, no leader, no headquarters, no specific mission statement, no structure, and no management. It’s composed of many tens of millions of people who function as individuals or work in any of more than 200,000 organizations worldwide, whose purpose somehow falls under the umbrella of providing for the needs of our current generation without making it impossible for future generations to provide for their own.
At a minimum, any notion of sustainability needs to contemplate clean energy and transportation, nutritious natural-grown foods, human health and wellness, forward-looking land management practices, clear and healthy skies and oceans, biodiversity, justice and freedom from subjugation for all, and international relations that promote peace and discourage war.
Could all this be better organized? Of course. Would that get us anywhere at this point? I doubt it.
I’ve spent the last few days on a client project that has me cutting and pasting language out of the enormous congressional budget documents, many of them literally thousands of pages long, and I’ve seen firsthand the lengths to which this administration has gone in purging all mentions of climate change and environmental sustainability. The more power these people have and the more time they have to exert it, the quicker will be our civilization’s descent into degradation and decay.
At least for now, it’s a very good thing that the sustainability movement and the U.S. government are kept at a huge distance from one another.
Craig,
I read your post three times to make sure I hadn’t missed how you made the connection between vague “motherhood” fuzzy statements about “wellness” and other “kubaya” observations, and an equally fact-less rant against the current US administration.
Alas, none exist!
I’m afraid moaning, handwringing and dreaming of a vague utopian nirvana where everyone is in adherence with your insubstantial philosophy and political doctrine, won’t actually achieve anything positive. (except making yourself feel better).
To effect any sort of real change, you need to identify definite, achievable, practical, realistic goals, which can be adopted without massive disruption or ‘social reorganization’ by incompetent ideologues.