2014 Earth Rebirth Sooner Mosaic Social Justice Symposium PP
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The 1st annual Sooner Mosaic Social Justice Symposium brought a large range of people to hear 24 chosen speakers on social justice issues. Earth Rebirth's presentation had one of the largest turnouts and some of the best feedback. Let's continue to dream big, act bigger. www.earthrebirthnow.org
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2014 Earth Rebirth Sooner Mosaic Social Justice Symposium PP
- 1. ANDREW SARTAIN Rationalizing the Future of Environmentalism through Social Change
- 2. About Me Senior at OU Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Environment major and Nonprofit Management minor Founder of the nonprofit organization Earth Rebirth
- 3. Bridging the gap between economic and environmental problems. www.earthrebirthnow.org
- 4. F OOD E NERGY W ATER PROGRAM INTERNSHIPS Garden Your Own Growth Homemade Sustainability Taking H2Ownership OTHER INTERNSHIPS Business Development
- 6. Bridging the gap between economic and environmental problems. www.earthrebirthnow.org
- 11. Does the Water Look Funny?
- 19. “Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body” George Carlin
- 26. The Millennial Generation Source: http://www.progressive-economics.ca/
- 34. Thinking Ahead
- 38. The Snowball Effect Source: http://www.elisabethhubert.com/
- 40. The Earth Rebirth Network Source: http://earthrebirthnow.org/
- 41. ONE Energy
- 44. www.earthrebirthnow.org Dream Big. Act Bigger.
Editor's Notes
- Intro and NameTalk to you about how we use the world. Compare 20th century environmentalism to environmentalism today. What we did right, wrong and what progress was actually made. As a group, we can recognize the floodgate of opportunities that have been created as a result.
- - A little about myself:Senior at OU, Came from Atlanta, Georgia- Studying Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Environment (wordiest major ) and minor in Nonprofit Management- 3 years ago, I founded my own organization called Earth Rebirth
- Bridging the gap between economic and environmental problems. BEST SOLUTIONS apply to both ECONOMY and ENVIRONMENTYou CAN’T choose BETWEEN thetwo.
- We have 3 programsExplain each oneInternships for class creditTo UNDERSTAND how Earth Rebirth CAME TO BE and what it REPRESENTS, we need to back up a bit.
- Everybody has a childhood dream – mine was to own my own zoo. ZOO.S.A was going to be the name of my zoo.So many IDEAS how to CHANGE the way people VIEW NATURE.AND I often FORCED my little BROTHER and cousin into the middle of it.Around age 11 my FAMILY started videotaping our trips to the zoo. It was the Zoo.s.a TV SHOW and it was “research” for my future zoo.I would do monologues in front of exhibits, critique designs and we even had t-shirts made for our family and what job everybody would have.So you can imagine how difficult I was as a child.
- But those dreams never let up. They just evolved into something bigger and that is now Earth Rebirth. PAUSEHOWEVER, as I got deeper into the idea of ADVOCATING the environmental MOVEMENT, something frustrated me.Everything you think of preaching, seems like it has been preached before. And most of it has been.So UNDERSTAND what we can DO BETTER, we have to UNDERSTAND what has already BEEN DONE. So now we need to back up a little further.
- AND retrace our steps.We are going to focus mainly on modern environmentalism, which is primarily post-1950. Now looking at this timeline, I’ll explain the weird shaped Earths. The rotation of the Earths represents how well we understood environmental issues. Earths skewed upwards represent the perception of environmental importanceand skewed sideways shows how much we cared about environmentalism during that period.
- So what happened with environmentalism? What did we get right? What seemed to clicked in the first wave of environmentalism?and where did we fall off?
- TO start, we began to SENSE something WASN’T quite RIGHT. The signs of environmental NEGLECT were becoming more obviousINDICATORS of CARELESSNESS grew STRONGER.FOR instance..
- When the AIR looks like this. It doesn’t take scientific testing to see an issue.People are concerned with what they can see, feel, touch, smell. If Iwalk through the city and can’t see my hand, we might be over-polluting.
- If you TOUCH WATER and it STICKS to your hand like GLUE or you find MORE DEAD FISH on the SURFACE of the river THAN you see SWIMMING in the water. There might be a problem.These types of issues were obvious and there was no way to look past them. SO what did we do?
- - We fixed them. We went with common sense. - We started REGULATING the DUMPING of chemicals into water, air and land. We CATEGORIZED the thousands of SPECIES DEPLETING and going EXTINCT. We established AGENCIES to monitor environmental PROTECTION and OVERSEE industry.SO the 60’s and early 70’s set the groundwork for modern environmentalism today.We began documenting the obvious problems on hand and looking for ways to monitor them. That didn’t necessarily eliminate the problems, but it helped reign them in.
- So WHY did environmentalism SLOW down?The PUBLIC didn’t fight ENVIRONMENTALISM in the 1960’s, they WELCOMED it. It seemed LOGICAL. Many of the CHANGES that were made, WORKED. The REGULATION, worked. A Good Example is..
- San Francisco’s air between 1968 and 2005 is a huge testament to the clean air act and the standards put in place.The U.S faced this problem half a century ago and addressed it.There is no argument that this regulation worked. AND now we are now seeing the same problem in other countries.
- China’s air is in peril. MASKS are worn in PUBLIC throughout BEIJING and other CITIES for health/smog CONCERNSBut THANKS to regulation put in place 50 YEARS ago, U.S. AIR QUALITY in major cities is BETTER NOW than it was in the 1960’s. So something worked. BUT again, WHY did it FADE in popularity?
- The SIMPLEST way to put it is, PEOPLE grew TIRED of the concept. For TOO LONG, it was the SAME TUNE.We need to PROTECT THIS, we need to SAVE THAT. We need to STOP USING this, we need to CUT BACK on THAT. People GOT SICK of HEARING what they do WRONG. All CONCERN, no CONSTRUCTION. All PROBLEM, no RECOGNITION of progress. The SHADOW of environmentalism GREW BIG but the LIGHT in the tunnel grew SMALLER We TRIED solving the PROBLEM, but it just raised more FEAR than hope of possibility. We were OVERWHELMED with GUILT and NOTHING seemed GOOD enough.SO we gave up.
- Environmentalism BACKFIRED and the good ol’ 1980’s rolled aroundIf you ask someone from my PARENTS’ generation today, the BEST PRESIDENT in the last 40 years – REAGAN is the most POPULAR answer. And much of that reasoning stems from an APPRECIATION for the economic GROWTH that took place. Jobs, housing, income levels during that time – all on the rise. It was a time of PROSPERITY.But the BIGGEST INFLUENCE of the 1980’s was without a doubt the idea of CONSUMERISM.
- Reaganomics carried a very strong message - the MORE you BUY as a consumer, the more WEALTH the country CREATES. This idea at face seems very PROMISING, until you take into ACCOUNT RESOURCES. We put so much EMPHASIS on the END product that we completely IGNORED the STARTING POINTS used to CREATE it. The idea that I can sell 10,000 HOMES and make 50 MILLION dollars is great – unless I don’t have the RESOURCES to BUILD 10,000 HOMES.So the idea of CONSUMERISM is inherently BACKWARDS. You CAN’T SUSTAIN a system by focusing solely on how much you can CONSUME, you have to FOCUS on what can be PRODUCED. A person DOESN’T SURVIVE based on HOW MUCH he can EAT, he SURVIVES only IF there is FOOD TO BE EATEN.
- In the pre-1950’s, like in WWI and WII, production felt like a necessity. We focused largely on manufacturing and the production of goods and materials because it was needed. But as the 80’s steamed on, convenience took over and we shifted to a society that craved consumption. Jobs began shifting from manufacturing to the service industries, creating a double edged sword that a) Used more stuff, fasterb) Lowered production capacity, AKA what was available to be used. - And this would eventually catch up to us.
- By the 1990’s, the SCIENCE to MONITOR how the EARTH fluctuates was WELL UNDERSTOOD. Out of the known VARIATIONS to cause climate change, MOST have been studied for DECADES, if not longer. But even though SCIENCE has been on target for a while, the UNDERSTANDING of that science had PING PONGED around the room. If you ASK any 5th GRADER to name the INDICATORS of climate change, MOST can name 5 or more of those on this slide.That’s because YOUNGER GENERATIONS SEE the WORLD today much more systematically than those PRECEDING them.
- AS A RESULT, it was inevitable that Environmentalism would eventually PEEK back up. AND it did. In the 1990’s, the IPCC released its 1ST ASSESSMENT on climate change and we UPDATED environmental laws to fit the times..But the CARE was not as strong as DURING the 60’sPeople had HEARD all this BEFORE, 25 YEARS ago. Environmentalists were now ASSOCIATED with ALMARMISTS. The ECONOMY was STABLE. The problems TOUTED for so long did NOT have an IMMEDIATE effect on the country’s WELL BEING. And although the NEED for environmentalism was EVIDENT, but it was NOT URGENT.
- We FIGURED out the PROBLEMS, the consequences, risks. We just COULDN’T PINPOINT the TIMING. This has a lot to do with human natural INSTINCT, which is still very much ENGRAINED in our BEHAVIOR.We base our PRIORITIES off SHORT TERM success. The human species THRIVED because of an INGENUITY needed to SOLVE day to day PROBLEMS. PLANNING 20 years ahead WASN’T NEEDED because SURVIVAL isn’t based on planning, its based on REACTION. BUT as SURVIVAL became LESS of a CHALLENGE for humanity, SUSTAINING society became MORE of one. Although we have gained the ability to foresee future CONSEQUENCES, like these above.We FAIL to ACT because the survivalist mindset thrives in IMMEDIATE STRUGGLE, NOT extended FORESIGHT.
- SO asif predicting the future wasn’t hard enough. The U.S would soon face hardship, leading to bigger fish to fry. The optimism for the 21st century was quickly clouded in contention AND..
- 9/11 forced just about every long term problem on the table, out the window. Little else mattered besides seeking justice and peaceOR at least grasping onto the idea of fighting for itthis became the prime mentality of social action.
- AND It is hard to find long term solutions when short term obstacles drain resources. 3 WARS, a RECESSION and countless CONFLICTS taking place around the world. It is NO SURPRISE that environmentalism took a BACKSEAT for a bit. But as jobs that have started COMING BACK, they have been CRITICIZED as TEMPORARY jobs. This is BECAUSE..
- We STILL see this OCCURRINGall OVER the COUNTRY. 1 in 4 college graduates won’t find a job out of college. AND Why? WHY are there NO JOBS? WHY are jobs TEMPORARY?WHERE are the CAREERS?But first, and MORE IMPORTANTLY, this RAISES the QUESTION..
- Are we GOING in CIRCLES?Because DESPITE how much we KNOW about CLIMATE change, the EFFECTS and what will OCCUR as a result.WHY is there still so much CONFUSION?
- Here are some stats that shed light on the PUBLIC OPINION towards CLIMATE CHANGE. The MOST IMPORTANT numbers are in the U.SIn regards to climate change, public opinion in the U.S. has actually REGRESSED in the last 10 YEARS. 58% of Americans BELIEVE there IS solid EVIDENCE for GLOBAL WARMING. 14 points LOWER than 72% in 2008But, 67% think the U.S should PARTICIPATE in a new CLIMATE change TREATY to reduce GREENHOUSE gasses.HOWEVER, ¼ of the U.S. still thinks NO ACTION should be taken on climate change UNTIL we know it is CERTAINAND this is a problem because..
- This is what the scientific opinion looks like. With almost every major GROUP that STUDIES climate on EARTH.The DEBATE is SETTLEDwe KNOW what is HAPPENING. Yet the PUBLIC remains CONFUSED Largely thanks to the MEDIA, fueling DEBATES that go in circles with LITTLE CREDENCE or JUSTIFICATION. Because the PROBLEM is CLEAR.3 second pauseBUT what can we actually do differently? What did we learn?
- First, It all BEGINS with PERCEPTION. UNTIL people UNDERSTAND: the OVERWHELMING CONSENSUS on climate changethe LOOMING EFFECTS and the SOCIO-ECONOMIC INFLUENCES resulting. We CAN’T move FORWARD. The LAST ELECTION cycle came with all kinds of RHETORIC. Environmental REGULATION was referred to as a “JOB KILLER.” RENEWABLE ENERGY investment is ATTACKED as a wasteful MONEY PIT. WE have to RE-EVALUATE how we INTERPRET VALUE in this country. As it always has, the ECONOMY is going to be the most important thing to us, BUT the ENVIRONMENT is the FUNNEL that allows this all to FLOW. PERCEPTION must come FIRST AND VALUE must be BASED on LONG TERM goals.
- - We must acknowledge that an ECONOMY can not EXIST without the ENVIRONMENT sustaining it. You can destroy and deplete the environmentBUT the QUALITY of your SOCIETY and the CAPACITY of your ECONOMY will suffer as a result. That is UNDENIABLE.
- So given that point, ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS is really just LONG TERM economics. And if we address these four factors, we can help sustain a progressive economy. We should be PLANNING for what we KNOW we will HAVE, NOT what we ASSUME will COME. And we must ADDRESS the externalities that come with CORPORATE and INDUSTRIAL MOTIVES.
- Short term business PROFITS don’t result in long term SUCCESS for SOCIETY. Its naïve to think the short term agendas of business will freely transition to sustainable practices.Its the same reason car companies never liked seat belts, short term cost trumps long term results.Only REGULATION and VALUATION can steer BUSINESS in the DIRECTION of long term responsibility. And this can only be accomplished with proper oversight.
- This chart shows new jobs created between 2011-2012.You can see a huge spike in temporary jobs to nearly a 1/3 of the jobs created. I actually heard on the news this week that the military spent $567 million in order to build around 25 fighter jets because 800 jobs relied on them. The PR response was despite a lack of need, it was the only way to keep the jobs going.A similar story was told about a tank manufacturing plant.And it is important to note that we need to change the mindset that consistent jobs comes from consistent war.It is completely possible for it to come from consistent improvement of social needs.
- - BUT 10 MILLION people across the U.S are STILL JOBLESS right now.Meanwhile over 75,000 BRIDGES across the country are deemed STRUCTURALLY DEFICIENT. Tens of thousands of BUILDINGS lay ABANDONED or UNUSED in major cities. And local food PRODUCTION, waste REDUCTION and renewable ENERGY INSTALLATION are all social NECESSITIES. And EVERY single ONE of these problems is an AMERICAN JOB. All it takes is reinterpreting how we see these jobs. It is a given that we should be focusing on sustainable development. It SHOULD be a top PRIORITY of any COUNTRY or SOCIETY. Because improving the design of society will always be a permanent task because we live in an always changing world.
- So what exactly is an Earth Rebirth?Is it an organization focusing on FOOD, ENERGY and WATER. A group working to GARDEN with CHILDREN, CLEAN water SOURCES and EDUCATE families on sustainable energy USE. OR Is it a STATE of MIND.A way of thinking that SHOWS the POSSIBILITIES in this world COME from the WORLD itself. A mentality that environmentalism is much more than being a TREE-HUGGER. Its about DOING things BETTER, LIVING life more EFFECTIVELY and WORKING in unison to sustain it.We don’t know what Earth Rebirth can become, only time will prove its influence. But one thing is clear, there are MORE opportunities for CHANGE in the world today than ever before. Not only is there a NEED, there is a WANT.Whether you are an environmentalist or not, people WANT BETTER; they know we CAN DO BETTER. And that opportunity is greater now it ever has been.
- In 2005 something incredible happened.For the first time, an undeniable global NETWORK could be FELT by EVERYONE around the world.Our lives were ENHANCED through the opportunities of SOCIAL MANAGEMENT.
- -Facebook changed the world.More than a website, it demonstrated possibility. The idea of connecting to tens of thousands of people, directly, at once would have been mind blowing 50 years ago. But now each of us today meet more people online in one year than most individuals met in a lifetime during the 19th century.
- Our LIVES have been consumed by the ability to connect with others in countless ways. And this has CREATED an unprecedented GATEWAY into the CAPACITY of global CONSCIOUSNESS. Because the only thing people need is a PLATFORM.They will MAKE the world BETTER for themselves. Earth Rebirth plans to TAP into this consciousness. And so I want to spark your imagination by INTRODUCING two concepts today, one is now and one is the future, and both MOLD well with this NOTION of a global NETWORK.
- - The first is the Earth Rebirth Network. Today is the 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY since ER was INCORPORATED as a business. We have built a FOLLOWING in over 50 countries online and VOLUNTEERS spread throughout the U.S.AND as of 6 hours ago, we have LAUNCHED an entirely NEW WEBSITE at Earthrebirthnow.org that is designed for ACTIVISTS to NETWORK around the world.Some of the features include a Pin a Problem DATABASE that let’s you report any ISSUE, anywhere in the world and VOTE on the most important to address. You can CREATE a social networking PROFILEADD friends, photos and video. Create GROUPS, BLOGS, CHAT with other members. It is truly an activist social network. So CHECK it out and become a MEMBER and see what it has in store.
- The 2nd CONCEPT I want to INTRODUCE is ONE Energy. An ENERGY MANAGEMENT social network concept that we have come up with.This is a concept we believe CAN and WILL CHANGE the world. With the right resources, we believe we can change HOW ENERGY is USED and MANAGED around the world. Hopefully this clip both inspires and intrigues you. BUT more importantly, just MAYBE it will CONVINCE you that the FUTURE of environmentalism can be an OPTIMISTIC one. If we CHOOSE.
- Its pretty amazing how much we progressed in the 20th century. The 20th century TAUGHT humanity MORE about OURSELVES than we can INGEST all at once. And we are still trying to catch up to the information. But the 21st century is going to do the SAME in regards to what we are CAPABLE of.The GREATER our global CONSCIOUSNESS becomes, the more we can RECOGNIZE what to do BETTER.AND the BETTER a WORLD to live in.So with global CONSCIOUSNESS, comes global POSSIBILITY. And global possibility comes…
- From PERSONAL ACTION. I’ve DREAMED my entire lifehow I could help people UNDERSTAND the NATURAL WORLD.AND now I hope to DEDICATE my life to SHOWING people HOW to USE it.We all have a VISION of what the world could potentially become, the important PERSON we could POTENTIALLY be.BUT the TRUTH is – we are all IMPORTANT. We are all important to SOMEONE and EVERYONE is IMPORTANT to ALL of us. What you THINK, what you DO, how you ACT - INFLUENCES those AROUND you. And the first step to creating an Earth Rebirth STARTS with YOU.SO that is WHY if you take anything from this presentation I believe it is IMPORTANT for each of you to ALWAYS REMEMBER.
- DREAM BIG, but ACT BIGGER.Thank you.