Thomas Friedman 2: Five Global Megatrends Threatening Our Planet?

http://www.eco-rescue.info
http://www.eco-rescue.com

What are the Five Global Megatrends that converted in 2000 to create a raging fire? These are excerpts from Thomas Friedman, the multi-Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist and author (Hot, Flat & Crowded; World is Flat), while speaking at Governor Schwarzeneggers Global Climate Summit 2 in Los Angeles, October 2, 2009. See book review & verbatim of excerpt below. Friedman lists the five megatrends as follows:

1.Energy & Natural Resources Supply & Demand
2.Petrodictatorship
3.Climate Change
4.Energy Poverty
5.Biodiversity Loss


Book Review From Barnes & Noble
In his latest best-seller Hot, Flat & Crowded - Thomas Friedman, the influential New York Times Op-Ed columnist, presses his case that Green is the new Red, White, and Blue. Friedman argues that environmentalism isn't just a survival imperative; it's the best way to make America richer, more productive, and, not least, more secure. Spanning the globe, he presents case study after case study that shows that Green-oriented practices and technologies are the key to revitalizing our country and stabilizing an increasingly energy-starved world.

Publishers Weekly
Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman (The World Is Flat) covers familiar territory (the need for alternate energy, conservation measures, recycling, energy efficiency, etc.) as a build-up to his main thesis: the U.S. market is the "most effective and prolific system for transformational innovation.... There is only one thing bigger than Mother Nature and that is Father Profit." While he remains ostensibly a proponent of the free market, he does not flinch from using the government to create conditions favorable to investment, such as setting a "floor price for crude oil or gasoline," and imposing a new gasoline tax ($5-$10 per gallon) in order to make investment in green technologies attractive to venture capitalists: "America needs an energy technology bubble just like the information technology bubble." To make such draconian measures palatable, Friedman poses a national competition to "outgreen" China, modeled on Kennedy's proposal to beat the Soviets to the moon, a race that required a country-wide mobilization comparable to the WWII war effort. Recognizing the looming threat of "petrodicatorship" and U.S. dependence on imported oil, this warning salvo presents a stirring and far-darker vision than Friedman's earlier books.

VERBATIM: In 1830 day were 1 billion human beings. In 2008 there were 1 billion teenagers. That is crowded. 2:55 now the simple argument of my book is that hot, flat, crowded were like three flames that basically all came together around the year 2000 to create a raging fire. And this fire is boiling five global megatrends. And I believe these five trends are really going to determine the stability or instability of our planet in the 21st century

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

[terraalert]

Actually... where's the rest of this speech? I want to hear the whole thing, it sounds damn good!

[terraalert]

Why not combine the two videos? They're both short.