Contributed by Robert Shields
For over 50 years now, people the world over have celebrated April 22nd as Earth Day. Like many other days of remembrance, this is hallmarked as the time when we come together and celebrate all the bounty the earth gives and to rally to protect it from destruction. However, while many people have made lots of money writing books, giving lectures, and creating organizations tasked to the challenge, things have gone from bad to worse. Like many holidays, the meaning is lost and soon forgotten as the pace of progress sweeps us along like locusts, consuming more faster, until there is nothing left.
The climate crisis is a crisis of consciousness as the root of the problem is less about the number of people and more about the individual impact we collectively have. The root cause of this problem is a system that we created called capitalism, because as Gandhi said, there is plenty to meet the needs of the people just not their greed. Like the first computers, this system of economically managing limited resources was a step forward but unlike computers, capitalism, as a management tool, stopped evolving and adapting to the rapidly changing climate.
Today we have a much greater understanding of the Natural world, including that “she” has a blueprint for regenerative (quantum) economy that acknowledges the Earth is a living organism and we coexist with her in a symbiotic relationship. Our knowledge awareness and skills give us the power to change our world and with this power we must equally accept the responsibility of stewardship. This global perspective of shared value is balanced with the fair share of responsibility by locals for managing regional resources as needed to nurture the next generation of critical thinkers. Reliable innovation is the motor at the core of a regenerative economy and it’s the job creating solution to put the world back to work healing the planet.
While coal, oil, natural gas, and mineral extraction industries have gotten us where we are at; with human suffering, environmental degradation, and generational cycles of institutionalized violence this system will not get us where we want to go. 2020 has created the opportunity to see the world from a new lens and from this perspective it’s become clear that we need a new paradigm on money, the economy, and how these systems can serve to meet the needs of the people today in a way that doesn’t compromise future generations ability to meet theirs. All over the planet, businesses are finding ways to see this need for change as the greatest opportunity of our times. Private equity investors are putting millions into eco-lodges, zero-waste manufacturing, and the driving factor is the shift from food security, (regular access) to food sovereignty (control of the means of production).
For the last decade, the Alliance for Reason and Knowledge, (ARK) has been working to bring economically viable, innovative, and grassroots solutions to Alaska, focused on the pillars of food, energy, and zero waste to support diverse local living economies. Recognizing the wealth of culture and language along with the natural abundance of maintaining healthy wild lands we believe Alaska’s next economic boom will take the form of serving as a living laboratory on how over the next decade America can emerge as leaders of the fossil free world. As an energy source fossil fuels have limited capacity that comes at a high cost. As a locally manufactured sustainable building material (carbon nanofibers) it has the potential to transform us into a global hub of culture and commerce where the low cost of living (taxes) don’t impact the high quality of life.
Even with a great deal of focused effort, such a transition will take many years. With support from the Climate Reality Project, the Earth Day Network, Natives Rising, and Evolutesix, we are using Earth Day 2021 to mark the beginning of a 10- year shift in Alaska as we explore various models of economic organizing. Food serves as the seed of all civilization and as the focal point for growing a regenerative Fairshare economy in Alaska, the US, and giving the world choices and solutions on how to leave an enduring legacy.
Hailed as the first Regenerative Planet Summit, this virtual Zoom webinar runs from 8am-4pm on Wednesday April 22nd. An interactive format the schedule provides professional insights and tools for local action. Head on over to www.a-r-k.us/rps21 to get your tickets. $20 each and seats are limited.
