Over the past few years, I’ve written several articles calling out Chevron’s nauseating behavior in defiling the rain forests and people of Ecuador. As I’m fond of saying, there are over 200,000 groups around the world whose mission and purpose is environmental and social justice.
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Would you say that you are generally optimistic or pessimistic about the outcome for humankind on this planet? When asked this question, I commonly say that I’m neither, since taking either position implies that I know how this is going to turn out, and I simply don’t.
Actress, playwright and social commentator Anna Deavere Smith (pictured) takes a different and probably more interesting tack: while she is not optimist, she is hopeful. According to Ms. Smith, optimism says: Based on the evidence I can see around me, this is going to turn out fine—let’s get to work. Hope says: Based on that same evidence, we’re headed for catastrophe—let’s get to work.
In any case, we clearly have some work in front of us.
In response to my piece on Obama’s Tour of Alaska Focuses on Climate Change, a skeptical reader notes: The President’s speech was a sop to all his old faithful supporters, a bid to create a legacy for good intentions.
I’m not 100% sure about Obama’s exact motives. Personally, I’m a lot more charitable, but that’s just me. It will also be interesting to see how he and his presidency will come to be regarded over time. I’m betting that universal health care and environmental consciousness will be important issues for a very long time, and that his administration will be seen as a watershed event on both these.
Frequent commenter MarcoPolo, who believes in the sanctity of free market economics, remarks on an optimistic post by my colleague Cameron Atwood: You live (in) a little world of your own ideology, don’t you?
I would hardly call it a “little world.” Fortunately for us all, Cameron’s ideology, i.e., promoting environmental and social justice, is shared by more than 200,000 groups around the world: some huge, e.g., The Sierra Club and Greenpeace, and some far more modest, e.g., the subscriber base to 2GreenEnergy. It’s difficult to imagine where our world would be today if it weren’t for people of conscience who have worked through the ages to protect the interests of human rights, environmental sustainability, etc.
Frequent commenter Peter writes:
Craig, thought you would like to see if you had not – strong words – a lot late – but finally the words match the situation. (more…)
I just answered a question on Quora: Why hasn’t a hybrid piezoelectric and a solar energy device entered the market yet? Hybrid piezoelectric and solar device can harvest energy from the sun, rainwater and even wind making it much more efficient. However, it seems that the device has not entered the market yet. Why is that so? (more…)
Those of us concerned about a sustainable approach to life on planet Earth should be very concerned about the wholesale decay in the way our citizenry gets its news and, consequently, how most of us form our beliefs about the world around us. In particular, we need to ask ourselves about the results of the concentration of over 90% of the news media in the hands of five or six multinational corporations like GE and Viacom, which, summarized, are as follows: (more…)
Regular readers recognize the name of my colleague Dr. Alex Cannara; they remember his virulent pro-nuke position, which he touts as the only viable way to deal with climate change. At many points over the years I’ve known him, I’ve debated him on the validity of renewables, but all the while I’ve been careful to absorb everything he publishes on global warming and anthropogenic climate disruption. (more…)
My friend Jon LeSage, senior journalist in the green vehicle space, writes: In this year of declining plug-in and hybrid sales (and small cars losing share to pickups and SUVs), there’s been a lot of interest in exploring ways to reach consumers. A special report released last week by research firm Shelton Group delved into what’s working in reaching consumers with an interest in green products – marketing buzzwords that are effective with consumers. It’s been interesting to view the study’s findings, and to have first-hand experience with how market research firms are structuring their studies for automaker clients.
I wouldn’t overthink this. (more…)
According to the Writers Almanac: It was on this day in 1837 that Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered a speech entitled “The American Scholar” to the Phi Beta Kappa society at Harvard University. …. (It) was the first time he explained his transcendentalist philosophy in front of a large public audience. He said that scholars had become too obsessed with ideas of the past, that they were bookworms rather than thinkers. He told the audience to break from the past, to pay attention to the present, and to create their own new, unique ideas. (more…)
