At Greenbuild, Natural Capitalism co-author Paul Hawken unveiled a new project and interviewed climate allies Tom Steyer and Maryland governor Martin O’Malley.
Speaking at the Greenbuild conference in New Orleans last night, author-environmentalist Paul Hawken unveiled “Drawdown,” a book and project aimed at reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in our atmosphere.
“You read that right,” wrote Joel Makower on GreenBiz: “to reduce, not just stabilize, atmospheric CO2 and other gases, in order to reverse rising global temperatures.”
Mr. Hawken previewed the book and project to prominent sustainability journalists in the U.S. and U.K. yesterday.
“Drawdown is about technologies and solutions that are in place, understood, measured, documented and growing,” Hawken told The Guardian’s Marc Gunther. “This is a path to opportunity and wellbeing, as opposed to a tax or a loss.”
At the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo’s opening plenary in the Superdome Wednesday evening, Mr. Hawken laid out his vision for the 23,000 attendees.
“Hawken said that the crowd at Greenbuild understands the climate opportunity as well as leaders of any industry,” Mr. Gunther wrote. “They’ve seen the rapid growth in efficient building technology, LEDs and solar power.”
Greenbuild attendees tweeting quotes from the keynote captured the essence and inspiration of Mr. Hawken’s speech:
[stextbox id=”noimage”]GreenSource Magazine @GreenSourceMag
“It is not game over. It is, in fact, game on. It marks the beginning of a new world, not the end.”
“Climate change is begging you to dream, not hide. It’s time to come together and collaborate.”[/stextbox]
[stextbox id=”noimage”]Architectural Record Magazine @ArchRecord
“Is climate change happening to you or for you? If you embrace it, it’s your ally.”[/stextbox]
[stextbox id=”noimage”]Daniele Horton @danielehorton
“The transformation required by climate change marks the beginning of a new world.”[/stextbox]
[stextbox id=”noimage”]Allison Wilson @amwilson914
“When it comes to laws of physics and laws of Congress, the laws of physics prevail”[/stextbox]
“It’s easy, in today’s divisive and toxic political environment, to view Project Drawdown as too good to be true, a quixotic quest for an unattainable goal. But there’s something simple and sane about Project Drawdown’s collective ingredients,” wrote Mr. Makower. Paul Hawken combines “unabashed optimism tempered by sharp-pencil calculations,” balancing bold short-term and long-term goals with technological realities.
Big names are backing the project, notably Autodesk and Interface, and the Drawdown Board of Advisors is a Who’s-Who list of high profile figures including Andy Revkin of the New York Times, USGBC CEO Rick Fedrizzi, and Bill McKibben of 350.org.
“Not all of it will pan out,” Mr. Makower wrote of the forecasts in Drawdown. “There are simply too many variables and uncertainties — but much of it will. And it just could move the needle.”
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