Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Resilient Cities; Day 1

My brain hurts, but in a good way. I think. Today's conference on Resilient Cities was inspiring, sometimes mind-bending, and almost always interesting. Except for the part where I had to listen to Portland's competitive advantages in clean technology - manufacturing hub and young workforce, in case you're interested - but that was quick and over within minutes. What became apparent throughout the day is that the entire West Coast is alive with 'The Greenest this' and 'The Most Sustainable that'. As more than one presenter noted, it is a healthy competition that will hopefully raise the bar ever higher. All of us have the opportunity to leverage each others' knowledge and resources, which is in fact required if we are to execute large change rather than small incremental steps. No need to reinvent the wheel folks.

The highlight of the day, and I think I speak for everyone, was Paul Hawken's talk on all things city-ish and sustainable. This man is brilliant, in case you hadn't heard. He takes a few minutes to warm up but once he does you can only stare and hope not to miss a single word. He spoke on the complexities of cities (food and water in, waste out), and on the relationship that cities have with the Earth; cities need the Earth, but the Earth doesn't need cities. What does need cities though, is civilization itself. It really puts the 'who needs who' relationship into perspective and begs some obvious, and rhetorical, questions. He also spoke about the role that cities play in population and birth rates, a link that I had not considered before. As people migrate from rural to urban settings, birth rates fall as access to health care improves, education improves (particularly for women), and the costs to raise a child increase. In dense urban areas birth rates are actually falling below replacement, and according to Hawken the world population will level off at 9 billion, and then start to decline, as more and more people leave rural for urban life. This isn't exactly bad news, but its not good news either. All it means is that population will take care of itself after all. Phew.

That still leaves us with the immense issue of energy consumption, and the picture isn't as rosy. Everything takes more energy to do than it used to. Where oil was once literally spilling out of the ground, it now takes tons of energy and water to extract (read tar sands). Resources that were once easily accessible and plentiful are now becoming more difficult to access, and it's only going to get worse. Did you know that it takes 2 barrels of oil to get 3 barrels of oil from the tar sands? The ratio used to be 1:50.

The pivotal moment for me in his speech was when he referred to the fact that those of us who 'get it' - who see the world as an interconnected web - can't go back. We can't go back to living the way we used to once it happens. We can't go back to ignoring the signs, and we can't go back to viewing the world as unconnected. That moment, when it happens, is different for everyone, but its when you realize that what you eat affects you, your neighbour, and the family living in South America. That how you live affects your physical and mental health, and those of the people you meet on the street. And finally, that what you consume affects the Earth and us all.

No comments:

Post a Comment