I had a conversation with a person whom I respect very much just this past weekend, regarding the Gulf cleanup from BP’s catastrophic well failure and the implications it might have for the near future. This friend has worked on some impressive international projects and is a LEED AP project manager with a great company doing work that directly helps save the environment.
I, however idealistically, hoped out loud that the BP disaster might serve as a wake up call to investors that we can (and should) contact the firms we hold shares in and ask them to not cut corners, to do things right, and to consider the very real cost of environmental catastrophes the likes of which we’re seeing off the coast of Louisiana. To be better corporate citizens. I was shot down for being naive. I was perplexed. This person was employed in a save-the-world type industry after all.
I then alternately suggested that if we couldn’t rely on the hope that somewhere deep inside every investor, no matter how faint, there is a moral imperative, then perhaps this event would serve as a wake up call and signal the beginning of the pendulum swinging back from years of deregulation and privatization? Perhaps this could stand as the moment when government reasserted itself as a force that convenes, regulates, and intervenes in the best interests of the people and environment we depend on? Once again I was shot down for being idealistic, if not immature in my thinking.
I was hurt. Not because I was told I was naive and idealistic, but because this discourse crystallized the biggest challenge to transitioning to a sustainable and equitable economy. Our thinking.
What we think is important, and what we say even more so because it affects what our friends, neighbors and people we’ll never even meet think in response. The more we doubt out loud that government will do what’s right for the environment the less likely that reality becomes. The more we doubt out loud that investors will realize we have an obligation to demand best practices the less likely it is to happen too. And the more we think and say out loud that these challenges are insurmountable, that the human race is doomed, that governments and corporations will never change and the fate of this world is out of our hands then the more we breathe that reality into existence. I refuse to waste my breath lending legitimacy to the current model, like so many of us who claim to be realists. If you’re still reading this blog, it’s unlikely that you’re one of these people and I hope you find these encouragements fortifying. A realist can recognize major obstacles and respect challenges while remaining positive that they can be overcome.
Building better communities and a better world begins with our thinking and spreads through our words actions. So stay positive and never be afraid to be called naive or idealistic for your socially and environmentally hopeful views. It probably means you’re in the right kind of headspace, where you believe a better world is possible. And frankly, just to show that my comments weren’t that naive here are two examples of recent and proposed changes in the best interest of environment and people. One from investors and one from government.
Socially responsible investing is booming. This is also known as ethical investing or ethical funds. Once the realm of “tree huggers and hippies” these ethical funds have finally arrived in the mainstream of markets in Europe, Asia and North America and have become one of the biggest investment megatrends in half a century. How did it start? With a change in thinking.
President Obama announced just this spring that new and more stringent regulations for the banking and financial sector are essential. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, has proposed the biggest Wall Street regulatory overhaul since the 1930s as a response to the 2008 financial crisis which was caused by greed and deregulation run amok. If it can be proposed for the financial sector, it can also be proposed for the energy sector.
For far too long people have doubted the power of our governments, whether on the provincial, state or federal level. They’ve viewed them as inaccessible and when accessible, innaffective. On the heels of this tragedy it’s not a long shot to believe that an outraged public and a progressive government can’t push the pendulum back the other way and demand more accountability and responsibility from corporations like BP. Where does it start? With a change in thinking. What comes next? A change in our dialogue, followed by actions. Where does it begin? In our communities, and with individuals like you and I.
So I encourage us all to be mindful of how we think and speak. Because at times our thoughts and words can shape the world we live in more than our hands. Don’t be too insulted when a friend says you’re naive and idealistic, it should be an affirmation if anything.
