Energy Transformations and Revolutions – Paul Hawken

Here is an amazing talk about the energy revolutions happening throughout the planet. Paul Hawken’s talks about an energy movement without a name, lead by no one, that is the largest in recorded history, and is analogous to the complexity and function of our body’s natural immune system. He relates the ground swell of organizations addressing issues that benefit mankind and the planet and tries to connect the dots. He cites his new book “Natural Capitalism” which has received much attention. He speaks about everything to do with our connection to the earth and each other. From small community outreach groups to the formation of large NGO and Non-Profits. Including how the LEED certification program from USGBC is changing the way we interact and live in our buildings and cities.

In a recent 2009 Commencement speech Hawken’s said:
“The living world is not “out there” somewhere, but in your heart. What do we know about life? In the words of biologist Janine Benyus, life creates the conditions that are conducive to life. I can think of no better motto for a future economy. We have tens of thousands of abandoned homes without people and tens of thousands of abandoned people without homes. We have failed bankers advising failed regulators on how to save failed assets. Think about this: we are the only species on this planet without full employment. Brilliant. We have an economy that tells us that it is cheaper to destroy earth in real time than to renew, restore, and sustain it. You can print money to bail out a bank but you can’t print life to bail out a planet. At present we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it gross domestic product. We can just as easily have an economy that is based on healing the future instead of stealing it. We can either create assets for the future or take the assets of the future. One is called restoration and the other exploitation. And whenever we exploit the earth we exploit people and cause untold suffering. Working for the earth is not a way to get rich, it is a way to be rich.”

WiserEarth — April 20, 2007 — Paul Hawken’s speech at the bioneers conference on the worlds largest movement, the hundreds of thousands of grassroots organizations that address social and environmental justice.

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