Principal Voices

Principal Voices is aimed at stimulating discussion on some of the major challenges facing the world today. A group of globally-renowned experts are explaining their views on the environment, economic development, urbanization and the collaborative corporation. Many of them will also take part in debates on the issues, taking place over 2006 in New Delhi, London, San Francisco and Sydney. But most important of all, we want your views and comments. These will form a central part of the Principal Voices Web site, creating a global debate everyone can take part in.

An Inconvenient Truth

An Inconvenient Truth starring Al Gore.

Global warming adds a new dimension to the issue of Peak Oil.The question is not one of how long the fossil fuels will last but if we can afford to burn them at all. The film shows the extreme danger facing the planet. There is some measurable risk that we could reach a tipping point inthe climate crisis that could occur before Peak Oil.

Ex Vice president Gore did a superb job of articulating the danger. His long record on environmental issues and global warming gives him credibility. Unfortunately, he is also enamored with the concept of the technofix - in this case Carbon Sequestration. His solutions seem to be based on the "seven wedge" approach of Robert Socolaw, director of the Carbon Mitigation Initiative at Princeton University, which include efficiency, conservation, fuel switching, renewables and carbon sequestration.

Mr. Gore emphasized the significance of carbon sequestration. We are concerned that Mr. Gore is blessing the concept of "Clean Coal" a process where the pollutants, including CO2, are stripped from the fuel and buried in the ground or the ocean.
We understand that BP and Ford have donated $20 million dollars to the Carbon Mitigation Initiative. Not surprising as a"powerdown" will dramatically affect (in a negative way) the financial fortunes of those two firms. Mr. Gore is still holding on to the idea of a transition to various technologies so there is no need to change our way of life.

Source: The Community Solution - Peak Oil Update 7/20/06

Salting the Earth - Community Solution

The Bible tells stories of "salting the earth," a tactic used by people who hated their enemies so much that they destroyed the enemy's future by cutting down food-bearing trees and sowing salt onto farm fields so crops could no longer grow. It was an early version of genocide.

Today we have such greed that we are similarly destroying our own children's future, not that of an enemy, by our massive use of limited fossil fuel resources. Our scientists and engineers, who have brought us to this point with the best of intentions, don't propose cutting back our use but rather spur us on to find new ways to consume more.

New Solutions - Number 9

Rescuing a Planet Under Stress

Our global economy is outgrowing the capacity of the earth to support it, pushing our early twenty-first century civilization ever closer to decline and possible collapse. In our preoccupation with quarterly earnings reports and year-to-year economic growth, we have lost sight of how large the human enterprise has become relative to the earth’s resources.

Forests are shrinking, grasslands are deteriorating, water tables are falling, fisheries are collapsing, and soils are eroding. We are using up oil at a pace that leaves little time to plan beyond peak oil, or the period during which demand for oil far exceeds all available supply. And we are discharging greenhouse gases into the atmosphere faster than nature can absorb them, setting the stage for a rise in the earth’s temperature well above any since agriculture began.

Fortunately, there is a consensus emerging among scientists on the broad outlines of the changes needed. If economic progress is to be sustained, we need to replace the fossil-fuel-based, automobile-centered, throwaway economy with a new economic model. Instead of being based on fossil fuels, the new economy will be powered by abundant sources of renewable energy: wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower, and biofuels.

Happy Planet Index

The Happy Planet Index is an innovative new measure that shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered around the world. It is the first ever index to combine environmental impact with well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which country by country, people live long and happy lives. The results are surprising, even shocking, but there is much to learn from what they show.