“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Winston Churchill
Last week (December 11, 2009) I had the pleasure of being interviewed by New America Media for my opinion on COP15 through an African American lens. In summary, I am pleased and proud that President Obama was able to “rescue” some value from the conference. However, taking Churchill’s words to heart, I believe that in waiting for the “powers that be” to take action we are missing a significant opportunity. As I have written in earlier posts, to make sustainability sustainable, it must be useful. To make it useful, it must be put to work. This means to move beyond the regulatory framework and apply sustainability, including actions to reduce our CO2 footprint, as development tools to reach our short and long term societal and economic goals. This will encourage innovation, build competitive advantage and create jobs. It will also allow us to capture additional economic and social value from the CO2 regulations as they are implemented.
Americans normally seek the better mouse trap. As we are now seeing more and more across the nation, 40 years of Green innovations are now providing the best and most cost effective means of achieving our goals and desires. The more individuals and businesses understand that Green solutions can best meet their needs today, the faster these practices will be adopted and the faster our CO2 footprint will drop.
Additional Reading:
FULL ARTICLE FROM NEW AMERICAN MEDIA FOLLOWS
Ethnic & Local Lens on Climate Change Global Summit in Copenhagen
Editor's Note: Odette Keeley, news anchor for "Stories From The Ethnic Media" on NAM's radio program, "New America Now" on 91.7 FM KALW, talks to ethnic media professionals about their outlets' news headlines and their take on the news of the day.
This week on "Stories from the Ethnic Media": The local and ethnic lens on Copenhagen’s global summit on climate change.
FOR SUSTAINABILITY TO BE SUSTAINABLE, IT IS TIME TO PUT GREEN TO WORK!