Climate Capitalism

It’s been over 6 years since I read my first article from the independent research organization, Worldwatch Institute.  If you remember, 2002 was all about fighting terrorists and very little about fighting global warming.   Katrina was still a name for a woman, likely from Sweden.  Al Gore was the guy that “invented the Internet” and “lost” an election.  It was not at all sexy to “be green” in popular culture in 2002.

The article I read was about the state of food production, mainly in the United States.   The content of the article now seems almost common place: local organic produce, food miles, the economic benefits of a local food system… how the mood has shifted in 6 years.  At the time however, most people still thought organic food was something you ate with a wheat grass shake on a hippie commune, if they’d even heard of it.

Since that article, I’ve read their flagship publication, “The State of the World” every year since.  This annual book is an excellent collection of well researched articles written in layman’s terms.   Each edition follows a central theme (e.g. Urbanization, Economic Sustainability)…. a really big idea.  Each article is written by a different author or team of authors which results in a diversity of ideas and perspectives that starts to untangle the ball of global problems we are all facing.  Most satisfying for me is that I find it possible to discuss the ideas in these articles with my most liberal and conservative friends with out immediate dismissal.  These are not political papers designed to support someones agenda.  These are well-balanced, hard-hitting papers that will make you rethink your position on global policies, problems and opportunities.

The newest edition comes out in January, but the 2008 edition is still very timely… I’ll be sure to post some updates as I work through State of the World 2009: Into a Warming World.