Reinventing Fire

I had the pleasure of seeing Amory Lovins' new presentation (about his new book, Reinventing Fire) at the Bioneers conference last fall.  It was classic Lovins - data driven, rock solid logic, and based in systems thinking. As a result it's very exciting, inspiring and motivating. Below is a video of the presentation via TED.

Starting with the premise encapsulated in the Eisenhower quote: "If a problem can't be solved, enlarge it" - Lovins and the Rocky Mountain Institute team present a compelling case for how we can break our addictions to oil and coal, and create a clean energy economy by 2050 without an act of Congress, while saving $5 Trillion, growing the economy more than 150% and improving national security.

These themes echo those in former CIA Director James Woolsey's presentation at the 2010 ACUPCC Summit, where he talked about the social, environmental and national security benefits of a shift to radical efficiency and clean energy.  It also relates closely to the economic and jobs benefits that were a focus of President Clinton's presentation at the 2009 ACUPCC Summit.

The theme of the 5th Anniversary ACUPCC Summit this year is "Economic Renewal: Jumpstarting the sustainable economy through the ACUPCC."  This presentation does a great job of showing how that is possible.  By taking a whole-system approach, we can spark genuine economic development while eliminating the unwanted and unintended consequences.  Colleges and universities have a critical role to play in this process, and a responsibility to prepare graduates to thrive in this new economy and drive this type of innovation through research, community engagement, and their own operations.



Stay going.