Did Bill Gates Just Give The Most Important Climate Speech of the Year?

When we talk zero climate emissions, we sound crazy. When Bill Gates does it, he sounds visionary.  Gates, whatever else he did last Friday, just made the most important idea on the planet mainstream credible.  That's a big, big deal.


An interesting article by Alex Steffen, executive editor of Worldchanging, posted on February 15, 2010.
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On Friday, the world's most successful businessperson and most powerful philanthropist did something outstandingly bold, that went almost unremarked: Bill Gates announced that his top priority is getting the world to zero climate emissions.
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So what did Mr.Gates say that was so important?  You'll have to read the article to get the full impact of his ideas, but here are some highlights:

Gates believes that climate change is now the planet's most important challenge, and that the only sensible goal is development of 100% carbon-neutral energy by the year 2050.  To do this we need "an energy miracle ... we need energy solutions that don't yet exist" - urging ambitious entrepreneurs to unleash "1,000 promising ideas".  The author adds that the real breakthrough was not Gates' answer to the problem, but his definition of success: zero.

While Steffen is enthusiastic about this vision, he does acknowledge some gaps in Gates' articulation, and advocates:
~  restoring natural systems at the same time we're working towards clean energy
~  redefining what prosperity means and how it works instead of simply trying to improve efficiency.

The answer to the problem of cars and automotive emissions, for instance, isn't designing a better car, it's designing a better city.  The answer to the problem of over-consumption isn't recycling cans or green shopping, it's changing our relationship to stuff, so that everything we use and live with is designed for zero waste, and either meant to last or to be shared or both.

The best living we've ever had is waiting beyond zero.  What looks like a wall to many people from this side of zero looks like a trellis from the other side, a foundation on which new thinking can flourish.
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Click here to read the full article on the Worldchanging website.
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meantime don't eat anything that grows
and don't breathe when the cars go by
- Bruce Cockburn
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