From fire, to coal to solar power, the truth is that over millennia, centuries, recent years, we have discovered new means to provide energy and convenience to our lives. These discoveries have enabled society to live longer, become more efficient and travel to see other parts of the world.

All of that goodness has come at a cost. A cost that we all have to reckon with and address.

Climate change is a challenging problem that impacts, well… our whole planet. Challenging problems often require complex solutions. There are many layers to this problem. Our current energy dependence. The families and communities that currently support the energy sector. The extraction of elements to provide various forms of energy and the disposal of those products. There is no straight line solution.

It takes great humility to solve problems. To rise above our own cognitive bias and realize, “While I may be an expert, while I may have a lot of experience, I actually don’t have all the answers” Collaboration becomes important. And when you’re dealing with real people, their livelihoods, detriment to their communities, empathy and compassion becomes an important element in this type of problem solving. Innovation got us to where we are today, I tend to believe that innovation will be how we design and build our more environmentally responsible future.

We can all play a role, by producing less waste and demanding less of our environment to meet our needs. But not all of us are on the front line of this all important issue. Thankfully for all of us, there are a lot of smart people with great interest, enthusiasm and intelligence capable of solving these problems. Benji is one of them. I’m excited to share his voice with you today.

Conversation was originally recorded on April 27th 2021.

High Points:

Who is running the current climate conversation and how does this need to change? Currently wealthy, white, men driving the conversation. Needs to be more inclusive.
“To care about climate change sitting in a mansion is one thing. To care about climate change because its literally wreaking havoc on your community or because it’s changing the way your crops grow is a different thing. Those are the people that should have the megaphone.”
Urban areas have been dominating the conversation - More rural areas need to get to the table to have their voices heard. Massively underrepresented.
Empathy when having these conversations about changing economic landscape
Gratitude for what we’ve been able to do with energy sources to get us to this point. “Without fossil fuels we wouldn’t be developed and a lot of us wouldn’t be alive. What would you give up, your life? It’s a tough conversation. Saying you want to ban fossil fuels is a really great t-shirt but it’s not realistic.” Reduce dependency & Reduce impact while still using them.
Other major issues: Wildlife depletion, rainforest deforestation, ocean plastics - Pick an issue you care about that matters a lot to you.
Interconnectedness. Slow down and lower our impact.
Discussion about the “Green New Deal” and the importance of actual policy and substantive ideas.
Conservative alternative to Green New Deal & it’s three components
Costs to all different types of power - Hydro/Solar/Wind/Fossil Fuels
Nuclear power - Why Benji likes it.

Social Media for Benji and ACC

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ACC Website: American Conservation Coalition

If you'd like to connect with Ivey and continue the conversation, please feel free to connect on social media.

On Conservation