I have a firm belief in clean technologies and an even more firm belief in the clean intentions of all human beings. All of us human beings mean well, but some of us display what seems like deviant behaviour, because of lack of awareness and education. All human beings can be transformed, reformed for the better. No human being steps out in the morning with the intention of doing bad things like trashing the environment. My belief comes from what I have seen in my resort, Our Native Village, here in Bengaluru. Most guests come in not knowing it is an eco resort, but the moment they realise what we are doing to protect the environment, magic happens - they immediately respond by being more mindful of our space. Ok….ok….I can almost hear some of you say, get real, yours is a tiny example, not statistically significant, an anomaly….
Let me prove my point with other examples we are seeing in the ‘real’ world. Less than three weeks after Donald Trump pulled the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, a new group has emerged to support climate change in general and cutting down of burning of fossil fuels in specific. We all know that burning fossil fuels to generate energy is the main cause of global warning that is resulting in climate change and the resulting extreme climate events.
So who is in the group? ExxonMobil Corp., Total SA, Raymond Dalio, Laurene Powell Jobs, Stephen Hawking, Ratan Tata, and Michael Bloomberg, among others, have signed on as founding members of this group called the Climate Leadership Council (CLC). Note the first name – ExxonMobil – the fossil fuel giant! Magic again!?
The CLC is an attempt to build support for the climate movement, by earning support from groups as diverse as BP Plc, Banco Santander SA, and environmental NGOs such as the Nature Conservancy and Conservation International. The 11 companies included as founding members together have a market capitalization of $1.9 trillion and annual revenue of $1.4 trillion. They operate in all 50 states in the USand employ 1.6 million globally, but the council takes no corporate money. More than $2.5 million has been raised or committed from various philanthropic foundations and individuals.
The organization is the brainchild of Ted Halstead, a serial think-tank entrepreneur, whose mission seems to be to absorb traditionally conservative ideas and transform them in a possible solution for climate change. The Council has developed a draft policy that taxes climate pollution and redirects the money to taxpayers. The idea was first unveiled in February, when former US Treasury Secretaries James Baker and George Shultz presented it to the Trump’s top economic adviser, Gary Cohn.
The plan is to introduce a carbon tax on fossil-fuel combustion, which will then cunningly let energy prices reflect the damage done to the climate from carbon dioxide emissions. Money raised by from this tax is refunded monthly to taxpayers, which will make the distant climate benefits into immediate cash. It also includes something that Trump will like – a border tax on goods from countries without a carbon tax , which will then ensure that U.S. companies remain competitive.
While this may seem like a plan for the US, in reality this model can be applied to any country. It is a clever idea to get countries to adopt these principles, because soon all countries will be forced to cutting carbon, as it will affect their exports!
The only thing that keeps the world thriving is hope. We all need to have hope for our own future and for the future of the planet. The moment we see groups with an intention to do some good, we all need to support them. The moment we see with groups or individuals with no empathy for the planet at all, we should attempt to cause a shift in them by raising their awareness and educating them. You will be amazed at the magic that can happen! And God knows we need a lot of magic to save our planet, from all of you magicians out there!
