ORLANDO – Despite the election results from last November – which suggests that half the American people are indifferent — sustainability is not dead.
“It may be dormant, it may be hibernating, but it is not dead,” Ron Jones, president of Green Builder Media told a crowd of about 200 at the 2017 Sustainability Symposium in Orlando.
Monday’s program by Lake City, Colo.-based Green Builder Media, LLC, the leading media company in the North American residential building industry focused exclusively on green building and responsible growth, was billed as a first-of-its-kind thought leadership event focused on intelligent solutions for a resilient world.
The Symposium featured a number of international speakers including Mayor Buddy Dyer of Orlando, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, senior White House Resiliency Advisor Samantha Medlock as well as Philippe Cousteau the TV host and social entrepreneur who is the grandson of Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
The U.S. election of a president who claims that “global warming is a Chinese hoax,” who has promised to withdraw U.S. commitment to the Paris agreement on climate change, and who has threatened to eliminate the Environment Protection Agency is forcing advocates to regroup, participants were told.
Accordingly, it is time to determine “our collective and ongoing role in the immutable force that is the sustainability movement,” said Sara Gutterman, CEO of Green Builder Media.
Gutterman noted anthropologist Margaret Mead once said we must “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change he world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Philippe Cousteau added there were two trends that became clear during the last elections around the world — fear of mass migration and the perceived threat to societies, and the economy – how a society provides purpose and meaning to its people.
“We’ve always looked for innovation and opportunity,” he added. “If we don’t solve those problems, we won’t solve the bigger issues.”
Cousteau said that sustainability proponents must do a better job in selling their vision for a better world.
“Clearly, we’re not doing a good job,” Cousteau added. “Today, there is so much that is competing for people’s attention. We must tell a story in simple language. We have to tackle some heavy (stuff), so we need simple phrases or simple ideas that resonate with people.”
Jan. 10, 2017 Realty News Report Copyright 2017