An inconvenient truth

According to Oklahoma Republican Senator James Inhofe, "Global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people." Ironically, he is the chairman of the Senate Environment committee!

I doubt if Senator Inhofe really cares about the environment. But anyone who cares the tinniest bit, should see this movie.

Al Gore talks about the threat of Global Warming in the most engaging and down to earth manner possible. Backed by rigorous scientific data and research, he makes the case for immediate action. He does so with humility and humor.

Director Davis Guggenheim takes Gore's talk/presentation and weaves it intricately with the former Vice President's personal life, his personal motivation and his hard work. The movie gives the whole issue of Global warming a human touch and a moral imperative.

I found the part where Gore talks about his family farm in Tennessee particularly touching. He talks about how they were tobacco farmers even when they knew the harmful effects of cigarettes. His sister dies of smoking and lung cancer. They never cultivated tobacco again.

People are not always willing to change. It takes time, it takes convincing and perhaps it takes a catastrophy. We might have about 10 years to act before catastrophic climate breakdown begins. It is estimated that if a significant part of the Antartic ice sheet breaks and melts away, sea levels could rise upto 20 feet. People like me, whose homes are near the sea, could be left without a home and a hometown

Quote of the day
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his NOT understanding it"~Upton Sinclair (Al Gore on the unholy nexus between Bush administration and the Oil industry)

PS: Roger Ebert of the Sun Times has a great review here.

People, Planet & Profit

People, Planet & Profit...That is the guiding principle at Presidio School Of Management. One of the few business schools offering a complete MBA in sustainable development. I attended one of their open houses recently. An ongoing effort on my part to get my feet wet (or green) and make a career out of tree hugging.

This open house was unlike the usual ones. The audience/probable students were a diverse group. Teachers, IT professionals, city officials, artists, real estate professionals, lawyers, park service rangers, professors etc etc. All of us were treated to a great presentation about the college and best of all a wonderful presentation on Sustainability by Hunter Lovins, one of the authors of Natural Capitalism.

The college is based in San Francisco. They offer a 2 year full time and a 4 year part time program. A majority of the course work can be done online but one has to be attend four day weekend classrooms every month in San Francisco.

I found the course structure and direction interesting and impressive. Like their motto, the program has three dimensions to it. The Human Capital, Financial Capital & Natural Capital.
The emphasis is on guiding and developing students to become entrepreneurs and start up green businesses. The MBA program is designed to lead upto the final course... "Integrative Capstone Venture Plan. To start or build an ethical, sustainable and profitable venture for an existing or new business, NGO or governmental organization"

I would have signed up in a heartbeat, except for one thing...The commute to San Francisco every month. There is no way I can keep my job and commute to SFO. The only way I can really complete the course is if I move there!!!

The open house ended on a good note. Hunter Lovins was kind enough to sign my copy of the book. And finally a teacher in the audience stood up and said, "Now I can finally have my MBA and not be embarrassed about it". There was a loud applause.