Permaculture Pros

Corporate giants are finally beginning to understand that consumers are feeling the crunch of skyrocketing energy prices, feeling the loss of the ecosystem, understanding the malevolent connection between politics and fossil fuels, and demanding that business leaders at least acknowledge that there might be a connection between human activity and the climate. 

For those who are not already aware of how the current system of depletion and contamination is set up, I highly recommend the following short video, which superbly lays out the effects of a consumer-driven culture that aims only to keep people buying at the lowest prices possible:  storyofstuff.com/.

By now, the whole planet knows that Americans are consumers.  There has been understandable animosity toward this cultural value, as much of the fallout has rained on developing countries.  Now, a distressed economy has boomeranged on the American people, and there is an en masse questioning taking place over the obvious unsustainability of it all.  As a result, a new consumer is being born.  This new consumer is beginning to put major pressure on companies to offer products that are cleaner, more renewable, and more enduring than what has been offered to this point.  This need to supply a new demand is forcing companies like General Electric to announce an investment of $1.5 billion per year in "clean-tech" R&D.  They have even assigned a consumer-friendly name to the initiative: Ecomagination ge.ecomagination.com/.  

People are waking up to the fact that Earth naturally provides for all of our energy needs through solar, wind, geothermal, and tidal energy -- and it is free and in abundance!  The cost is in harnessing the power of nature and effectively distributing it on a large scale.  Real investment is now being made.  There is a double-digit growth in venture capital investments in clean tech:  cleantech.com/. 

And it is not only America.  Large population areas such China, India and Brazil are developing, industrializing . . . and naturally becoming consumers, as more people have more money to afford more things.  However, the energy needs of prosperity are staggering.  The good news is that these future developed nations seem to be mastering the learning curve toward sustainability rather quickly.  Brazil has tackled a dependence on fossil fuel by widely introducing sugarcane ethanol.  As of 2006, China has nationally mandated targets for clean energy.  The Indian government expects renewable energy to contribute 20% of their total energy in the very near future according to an article at Renewable Energy World.

Clearly there is a lot of work left to be done to pull us out of our global situation, but the best hope yet is for an educated consumer to demand products which are life enhancing and sustainable.  The current movement shows that corporations must respond to these demands in order to survive a new economy driven by a new consumer.