Why, Mom?

As I was watching the five minutes of news I get on Saturday mornings at the top of the hour while watching cartoons with my son (I admit I enjoy them, too) a story came up on drilling for oil and he asked “Mom, can I ask you a question?” That ususally means it is something he is really thinking about.  He asked “Why do we care about the environment now, when its going to a long time before the world is gone?” 

I had two responses for him (both of which could probably have been better, but I do the best I can): first, the world is not going to go away because lots of people are working really hard to do things in a different way so we can save the planet and second, we have to care about it now because it takes a long time to do these things, and we want to be sure the earth is healthy for him when he grows up and his kids and his grandchildren. 

Then my five minutes was up, and it was back to The Best of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles–yes, they’re back for a new generation.

They always say that kids should not deal with adult issues.  I worry about the message that we send our children in talking about the impacts of our current behavior on the future.  Often, when we are planning a marketing effort, we say we should work with school kids so they will bring the message home to their parents and become engaged in the issue themselves.  While this is an issue they will be aware of (it is inescapable these days) I believe I will think twice before I suggest a school based program that talks about the doom and gloom that they may face if adults don’t do something now to secure their futures.  Maybe we can frame it as healthy earth habits–something positive that they’ll feel good about rather than be afraid of.

Its bad enough that they have lock down drills in the schools.  I hope we don’t grow up resigned to life on a violent, dying planet.  Sure its a serious issue, but we can frame it in a positive way that is based on hope rather than fear.

Who is leading this charge?

As I’ve mentioned in my earlier posts (which have been read by no one because technically my blog is not operable yet, but I do enjoy reading my own writing and my mom says she likes it but she’s my mom) this is a spectacular point in time where transportation demand management has merged with environmental and energy issues to be top of mind with most of America. 

Who is our spokesperson?

I personally believe Al Gore blew it when (a) he released “An Inconvenient Truth” commercially rather than recruit thousands of people to give free DVDs out in the downtown areas of every city in the country—the people who had to be persuaded.  All the move did in theaters was preach to the converted. And (b) he rejected me (and my friend Jeff) as spokespeople to deliver his speech to other groups, even though  between the two of us we could have brought most of the transportation, municipal, marketing and business leaders in the tri-state area to the table.  He did, however, pick Cameron Diaz.  Okay, she is better looking than me (and much better looking than Jeff).  But is she going to get up in front of 200 Chamber of Commerce suits at a luncheon in White Plains and do the show?  I think not.

We need a powerful, non-partisan champion who is respected and well spoken and can leap a small Rush Limbaugh barb in a single bound.  Not a Hollywood type (though I respect Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio for their efforts, plus that guy from HBO’s Entourage).  Not a politician.  An enlightened business person?  A former president?  A dynamic university president?  And its not a matter of whether you believe the planet is going to be a puddle by the time our kids graduate high school.  Its about how our world works—how things are made, how people get around, how we power our homes, how we feed our people.  Please send suggestions to me via this blog, and I’ll follow them up. And don’t nominate me, I’m way too busy writing my blog, raising my kid, building my consulting practice, that kind of stuff.  Plus (and this I know will get some responses) I think it needs to be a man.  Gotta be practical if we’re keeping our eye on the prize.