[Platform] Fwd: Achievable Energy Sustainability

[Merelice]

Of interest....
Merelice

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: E.F. Schumacher Society <efssociety at smallisbeautiful.org>
Date: May 8, 2008 12:01 PM
Subject: Achievable Energy Sustainability
To: office at green-rainbow.org


Dear Friend

 An important event is occurring this week in Athens, Greece.  Senior
 Euro-Mediterranean government officials, international civil servants,
 corporate leaders, financiers, academics, and energy and environmental
 market analysts are meeting to forge understanding of climate change and
 energy security and to develop a plan for achievable sustainability targets
 for the region (http://www.athens-summit.com).  The summit culminates in
 officials from 61 countries signing a letter that fosters closer, deeper,
 and more effective cooperation on attaining energy security and combating
 climate change.

 Joseph Stanislaw is the lead organizer and chairman of the Athens Summit
 2008. His work as the founder of the advisory firm JAStanislaw group and as
 an independent advisor to Deloitte has involved him with the stark realities
 of energy security throughout the world.  "We are now," Stanislaw says,
 "collectively acknowledging the qualitative limitations of hydrocarbons and
 the challenges these pose --especially in light of mounting global energy
 demand."  The threat in terms of climate change and international social
 unrest requires that actions be taken that both deal with carbon emissions
 and provide continued access to energy.

 Stanislaw believes that individuals, corporations, and government must work
 together in furthering this agenda.  While grassroots activism has brought
 awareness to the growing problem, it will ultimately be government policies
 fully accounting for the cost of fossil fuels and the resulting movement of
 corporations to alternatives that will turn the tide.  "If government
 creates a level playing field that transparently accounts for costs, then
 businesses will be able to make sustainable decisions to create products and
 services."

 When someone with the international energy credentials of Joseph Stanislaw
 tells us to change direction and quickly, we are best to listen.  He is not
 saying that it is too late, but "if we do not vigorously tackle climate
 change and energy security, the world will face limited growth--or worse."
 Positively meeting this dire message requires that we imagine what the world
 will look like after oil.  "We can envision living in a world of
 dramatically changed consumption patterns," where "being strong locally
 means being less dependent externally [and] creates the potential for true
 mutual interdependence."

 As an energy industry leader, advisor, strategist, and commentator, Dr.
 Stanislaw advises on future trends in the global energy market. With Good
 Energies Inc. (http://www.goodenergies.com) he assisted in creating solar
 entrepreneurship in Africa.  Through the gift of solar panels and directed
 business advice they were able to establish businesses capable of providing
 solar panels to local markets.

 Among many commendations, he is an adjunct professor in the Nicholas School
 of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University, a former Research
 Fellow of Clare Hall and lecturer in Economics at Cambridge University, and
 senior economist at the Organization of Economic Cooperation and
 Development's International Energy Agency in Paris.  Dr. Stanislaw is a
 member of the E. F. Schumacher Society board of directors.  The book,
 Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy, which Stanislaw
 co-authored, has been translated into 13 languages and made into a six-hour
 PBS documentary.

 The E. F. Schumacher Society will be hosting Joseph Stanislaw for a talk
 entitled Energy: Global is Local.  The event will be held at 7:30 on May 22,
 2008 at the First Congregational Church in Great Barrington, MA. Tickets are
 5 BerkShares/ Dollars--free for students, available at the door.  For more
 information visit http://www.smallisbeautiful.org or call (413) 528-1737.

 Sincerely,

 Michael Gordon for the
 E. F. Schumacher Society
 140 Jug End Road
 Great Barrington, MA 01230
 efssociety at smallisbeautiful.org
 (413) 528-1737

 Board of Directors: Jessica Brackman, Starling Childs, Merrian Fuller,
 Hildegarde Hannum, Eric Harris-Braun, Constance Packard, Joseph Stanislaw,
 Nancy Jack Todd, and Charles Turner.
 Board of Founders: Ian Baldwin, David Ehrenfeld, Satish Kumar, John
 McClaughry, and Kirkpatrick Sale.
 Advisory Board: Tanya Berry, Thomas Berry, Wendell Berry, Lisa Byers, Olivia
 Dreier, Hazel Henderson, Wes Jackson, Amory Lovins, John McKnight, David
 Orr, Michael Shuman, Cathrine Sneed, Lewis Solomon, John Todd, Greg Watson,
 Barbara Wood, and Arthur Zajonc.

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