Just One Earth (Day)

22 Apr 2011 – Mark Lee

Funny – we have one Earth Day among 365 days total. Yet we have but one, presently poorly stewarded, earth. I know I am not the first to say it, but, c’mon, really, isn’t every day Earth Day?

Two, Actually

While far from keeping the planet foremost in our minds 24/7, there is actually a second Earth Day, the origins of which slightly precede the one that hundreds of millions now mark each April.

Equinox Earth Day was launched March 21, 1970, the brainchild of John McConnell), a peace activist and environmentalist. While the equinox version has not built the following enjoyed by the Earth Day series launched April 22, 1970 as a national teach-in on the environment by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson (who was moved to do this after seeing the effects of the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill), McConnell did steal the march, and he had embedded in his choice of date a concept that deserves mention and amplification. The vernal equinox was chosen as a symbol of rebirth and renewal, and for the fact that it is truly global, experienced by every person and place on the planet on the same day, but also for its ability to connote balance, and the need for humans to live in balance with the natural environment.

Two Down, 363 to Go

As 2010 ended, I wrote a blog post entitled All or Nothing. I argued then that 2011 needs to be the year, and the start of a decade, of absolutes – a time when we stop setting intensity targets or striving to be a bit better than peers and competitors, and instead strive for truly sustainable performance. There are ambitious examples (my December piece was inspired by San Francisco’s 100% renewable energy by 2020 goal; I also mentioned the laudable sustainability plans and efforts of DuPont, Marks & Spencer, Subaru, Target and Walmart), and others deserve mention (Nike, Starbucks and Unilever to add a few), but the reality is that the ‘absolute club’ is too exclusive. How do we make actually-sustainable performance – as opposed to reducing harm – the norm?

It’s the Economy, Stupid

You’d think that, with but one planet worth of resources available to underwrite the health and wealth of everyone, we’d be able to get past debates about whether what’s good for the environment is good for the economy and vice versa. But, especially in recession, fear that protecting the environment or investing in industries like renewable energy hurts growth and jobs (at least in the short term) can spread virally. The Proposition 23) attack on California’s AB32 Global Warming Solutions Act even had the chutzpah to call itself the California Jobs Initiative (opponents called it the Dirty Energy Prop). In this case, Republicans like California Governor Schwarzenegger and former Secretary of State George Schultz allied with Democrats to repulse the attack, but the norm today too often presents (and I believe – I hope – oversimplifies) Republicans as for jobs (and therefore willing to reduce or eliminate environmental funding, legislation or regulation) and Democrats as for the environment (and unsympathetic to people struggling to find or keep work).

Balanced Politics

Policy and politics make people uncomfortable – heck, I know it’ll make some of my own colleagues uncomfortable that I even oh-so-softly sketched the poles of the two main U.S. political parties’ current approaches to the economy-environment debate above – but we have to get comfortable with this (or deal with it anyway). Quickly. Because, trite as it may sound, really, every day is Earth Day. We all live and work and play – and eat and breathe – on the only planet available to us.

So it can’t be jobs or the environment. It has to be both. And leaders in both parties here in the US, as well as most political leaders abroad and in the private sector everywhere, must demonstrate more courage in stating what it will take to build an economy where both perfectly reasonable and necessary ambitions might be realized. Because I am all for jobs. And growth. And for clean air. And water. And ecosystems. All at once.

Any Hope?

While I wish the list were longer, I do find reasons to hope.

I mentioned above that the ‘absolute club’ is too small a group – the very fact that these organizations are singled out as beacons underscores the problem. But that assessment focuses on individual organizations, and while I applaud those willing to go it alone, we have to temper our expectations as to how much sole actors can influence the massive system challenges faced.

In this climate, I expect coalition builders and unlikely bedfellows will prove to be the new black.

In purple states Colorado and New Jersey, relatively new (and centrist) Governors Hickenlooper and Christie are ones to watch. Both keenly aware of the fiscal challenges facing their states and the fact that environmental progress does not come free, they also signal they are determined to resist more extreme calls to cut drastically the kinds of environmental investment essential to future economic and societal well-being. In the business world, inspiration is found in the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP). The USCAP website proclaims members’ commitment to “…a pathway that will slow, stop and reverse the growth of U.S. emissions while expanding the U.S. economy”. That USCAP members include the Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council is no surprise; but it’s enormously interesting that (coal titan) Duke Energy, (mining giant) Rio Tinto and (pulp and paper superpower) Weyerhauser are all members too. If USCAP can bring that motley crew together to find common ground on climate mitigation and adaptation – and particularly how climate action is essential to U.S. economic prosperity — what excuse do the rest of us have?

Celebration – and Challenge

So, happy Earth Day. Really. We do have so much to be grateful for, and so many reasons yet to believe we can do better by this planet we share. So get out there. Support a coalition builder. Or become an unlikely bedfellow. Because we only have one earth, and every day is Earth Day.