04/27/2025
Dear South Burlington,
Over a year ago, I decided to step down to focus on, among other projects, my research into how the French are navigating the political, social, and financial realities in their efforts to transition to a resilient and robust new model of circular systems. One scientist speaking at a conference yesterday says this model takes root in NASA’s Earth images from 1972, which showed us we are one global community dependent on interlocking biomes.
From the Paleolithic era, when humans were dominated by nature, to the Neolithic era, when over 13,000 years ago we became sedentary and assumed presumed dominance over our planetary resources, which we extracted with the belief they were inexhaustible, we have inherited and developed a capacity for adaptability which will help us as we proceed into our new era of global consciousness — ever since that photo, according to Maxime Blondeau.
The future belongs to the planet whether or not our civilizations survive. And so, for us humans, the future belongs to those civilizations that learn to live within the finitude of our living and breathing Earth. Because it is alive, our planet is not at a standstill but always in flux. It is beautiful and bountiful when treated with respect.
Energy provides for our desire for mobility, the vital need for warmth and cooling, and food, clothing, and habitat production. The sun and the wind along with battery storage but also reduction and conservation can ensure that we have all that we need and also what brings us joy. Some would include the Earth’s magma and nuclear power in that picture. We have the technical tools to build that stable and prosperous future. All we need to do is choose to use them. That is a matter of policy, public policy and industrial and business policy.
I’ll see you on the campaign trail when I’m back stateside this fall so that we can talk more.
Fifty years ago, on April 22, 1970, people around the world marked the first Earth Day.
