Free Range Apes

The incoming administration is soliciting our input on energy + the environment. I just posted my thoughts to change.gov,  and I think you should too! I am astounded with the way that the internet is being leveraged already to change the way the government does business. I wrote:

First may I thank you for collectively taking on this work, to help shape our future, and for listening to us in this way. I am gaining new hope in the potential of government. I have trust that you are working in the best interests of us all.

Fundamentally we need to move the US to being a Green Economy. This is where the future has to be. By this I am referring to integrating the concept of the triple top line into all levels of the nation. Environmental and social justice issues need to be key considerations within the design and planning stage of any action, along with the financial. Life is always far simpler when we shut the gate before the horse has bolted, when we design greenness into something, rather than trying to do so after the fact.

So what does this actually mean? There are several actions that I think are key, and from which many others flow:

1. Embed the rights of nature into the US constitution. This has recently happened in Ecuador, and the implications of such an action would be profound. I do understand the political realities of this, and the way that constitutional amendments work, and as such it is not a political action that an administration has authority over, but it does have influence.

2. Give the Ecosystem a Cabinet Voice. Appoint a secretary of the environment. The environment needs to have a voice at the table that is equal to that of the treasury. It is, after all, a consideration that really needs to be present in the discussion of all things. And it is needed to help drive many of these issues.

3. Create a national Green Plan. The Netherlands has one, and it has worked well for them. This is basically a set of strategic guidelines to help us make policy decisions that best serve both our current as well as our future needs. One of the primary mechanisms for this is to take an integrated approach and to break down, and work across the silos, with our shared goals in mind. We will achieve the most effective results through collaboration, not competition.

4. Bring environmental + social justice issues to the table at all international negotiations. To borrow a business metaphor the US needs to green its supply chain, and to provide assistance to help our supply chain do just that. Walmart’s strategy in this respect has been very impressive.

5. Launch a Green Apollo Program. Along the lines proposed by the Apollo alliance. Create jobs, whilst making our nation sustainable. Yes we can!

6. Put B Corporations into the Tax Code. Move the core concept behind the B Corporation into the IRS tax code, and into federal law. The goal of the B Corporation is to leverage entrepreneurship towards a social good. Currently corporations are fundamentally obliged to only make decisions predicated upon the financial bottom line so as to act solely in the interest of their shareholders.  Profit maximization at the expense of nature + society has been the core operating principal. This needs to change. Corporations need to be able to make decisions based upon the interests of their full range of stakeholders, not shareholders. Environmental + social justice concerns need to be on the table even where there is a financial impact. Money should not be the sole goal, and this is a key way to structure our economic system to reward constructive regenerative behaviors, whilst punishing destructive ones.

7. Shift from a payroll tax to a carbon tax. My sense of the debate is that carbon taxes are a more effective policy solution than a cap + trade mechanism. Offsetting the carbon tax with a reduction of payroll taxes does two things. It reduces the cost of employment of an individual, thus helping us get the US working again, whilse decarbonizing our economy quickly.

8. Hire a White House Chief Sustainability Officer. Having a chief sustainability officer in the White House whose role is be to green the presidency, would be a huge signal of integrity and leadership by example. The first step would be to do a full environmental impact of the presidency and issue a sustainability report to assess the baseline. Then create an environmental management plan with an ambitious, yet achievable, set of goals to reduce your ecological footprint. Then lastly to develop benchmarks that can be continuously monitored and reported upon, so that progress is seen to be made.

thank you for your consideration and service!

sincerely

David Hodgson