> One thing that's immediately striking is how much more advanced the conversation is in the UK.

Was thinking that yesterday myself. While that's exciting for us here in London, at the same time it's a concern that the conversation/debate/ideas are possibly not up to speed elsewhere.

I know that there is a fairly joined up debate going on here from government, business, citizens and crucially, the media. That's obviously helping things along.

But hey, this is a global agenda!  :)

Matt Burge

Hey, all:

...As they wipe their chins, pick their teeth, and hide their grins.  Gee, the cynical part of my brain lights up when I see 'corporate' and 'climate' together on the same day, much less in the same phrase.  Remember, "Greed" is the name of the broke-down horse we rode into town on.  And we expect the global corporate oligarchy to come to our rescue?    

I suggest it is much more likely that the fat old grey men will do what they can to avoid responsibility, twist things to their advantage, equivocate, divert, delay, distract, and obfuscate.  Their words and their deeds do not match.  Loss of stock value has a paralyzing effect on Big Bidness, and virtually no one will move unless everyone moves.  

I do admire other countries who are at least somewhat ahead of their peers in the U.S.A., and this is likely to continue and the gap even likely to grow.  After all, government in the U.S.A. is now an extension of the corporate oligarchy.  And at the same time, we have countries such as China and India who have no want, need, nor understanding of restraint and sustainability.  Being the most populous doesn't help, either, in fact it is antithetical to sustainability.  And countries like Brazil who are determined to obliterate much of the richest biogeographical region on the planet, for money.  

What is needed is a sense of responsible informed populism, in which business answers to the public rather than the current arrangement.

David
Sustainability For Life

Messages done with sustainable energy, with Wind and Sun!

The conversation is more advanced in the UK because it is allowed to be.   (Britain can still learn from the EU and Japan on this topic.)

The threat of climate change generally (and information provided by scientists' research, specifically) is taken seriously by governments, businesses and the public.  That means informed responses can be formulated at the highest levels and more easily implemented from the top down, from grassroots up, and also can spread outwards from all the layers of responsibility in between.

Similar conversations could happen in America--there are two opportunities for us to catch up at CCC conferences this fall (Chicago September, NYC October).