If it wasn’t my 52nd birthday and I wasn’t already volunteering for the South Bay Environmental Services Center that day in Lawndale, I’d be there – because the lineup Leslie’s put together is pretty terrific:
Part I – Burning Man’s Got Nothing On This “World Changing Revolutionary Movement”
Left: Bob Williams, Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets Right: Cisco DeVries, Renewable Funding
You know you’re at some kind of special conference when all the sessions seem to end way too soon and the eight hour agenda blasts by like the all star jam session at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame dinner.
But that’s the way it felt to the Creative Greenius as I covered the EcoMotion Palm Desert AB 811 Conference on Friday at the University of California Riverside Graduate Center. Admittedly I am a geek when it comes to AB 811 type programs that give people loans to put solar on their roof and add energy efficiency to their homes. And I tend to get a little fired up when I’m around people who actually make things happen instead of just pontificating about it. Imagine that…
EcoMotion’s President, Ted Flanigan made sure Friday was one of those rare days filled with all substance and no smoke, mirrors or dog & pony shows. What an exhilarating difference a well organized and smartly thought-out lineup can make. Just ask Los Angeles Lakers Basketball fans.
That’s just one reason I spent 12 hours on behalf of the South Bay Environmental Services Center talking to people at the Palos Verdes Street Fair last weekend. And when you hear the questions folks ask at events like these you instantly realize just how little people know and understand about what’s happening to our climate and their world. Most have no idea. It’s not their fault either – their local governments and the mainstream media have failed them big time. That’s certainly the case here in Torrance, California where I live and work.
The good news is that positive things ARE happening and our efforts are starting to make a difference. It’s all happening excruciatingly too slowly of course, and at the pace we’re currently on we are quite simply as doomed as doomed can be – but in the meantime it IS starting to happen and the first signs of momentum are now starting to show. As all Lakers and NBA fans know, if you’ve got Mr. Momentum wearing your jersey you’re going to go on a scoring run. It’s a slam dunk.