Hot, Flat and Crowded #2: Paying Attention

The UMNH Book Club met last week for our discussion of Hot, Flat, and Crowded. About half of the group had been to Thomas Friedman's SLC lecture, some had listened on the radio, a few had just skimmed the book. The group was comprised primarily of retirees, a handful of professionals in their 50's, three "40-something" women, two of us who have children, and our guest facilitator, Young Jonny Spendlove. (Sorry, Jonny, can't help saying your name as a title! It's so catchy!) I go into details of the make-up of the group because of the way the discussion went, but more about that later....

Jonny started the discussion by telling us about his search to find out why Al Gore had made a quiet visit to Salt Lake City the previous week. After some investigation, Jonny discovered that the former vice-president and the unofficial spokesman for climate change came to Utah to meet privately with the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints (LDS). Evidently, Al Gore initiated the meeting and we can only assume that the discussion centered on climate change. The fact that the meeting happened at all had particular significance for those of us living in Utah, regardless of our religious affiliation. What IF the LDS church leaders came out with a call to reduce human impact on climate change? What if?

Jonny asked the group "Where do you 'hook in' on the need for a green revolution?" For one woman in the group it is clean air quality, having raised three children with severe allergies. Many retirees in the group expressed the great sadness of observing a world in which so much that was good (salmon running in the river, growing up on a family farm, the freedom of growing up outdoors) has been lost. Lost for their grandchildren. Another expressed the frustration of having lived a life with great concern for conservation, only to have the world still careening toward breakdown, it seems. For Jonny, it was the importance of not living, working, raising his future children in a world led by petrodictatorships. As Friedman points out, there are many places to jump into the Green Revolution. So many that perhaps an effort to significantly changed our ways of living on our planet will continue to create some new unlikely partnerships. Like Al Gore and the LDS Church.

Our discussion headed toward: What does the "green revolution" look like in Utah? In Salt Lake City? Our discussion covered everything from the green lawns of LDS Ward Houses being converted to community gardens, to lowering our VMT (vehicle miles traveled), to using Solar Dryers (a.k.a. clothes lines). A lively discussion ensued on public utilities. The retirees in the group seemed to have detailed, elaborate tracking of their public utilities usage and bills. Really detailed.

I admit, at one point I had thoughts of, "Wow, these people are really focused on their utility bills!" But then it dawned on me: They are paying attention. And isn't that the whole point? The prosperous American Lifestyle as defined by Friedman, the one that nine "Americums" of people are living today, thrives on not paying attention. Just using more, buying more, burning through cheap oil, cheap energy, more plastic, more cars, more. Prosperity doesn't require having to pay attention to the small details of saving money.

But these folks, they are paying attention. Whether motivated by a fixed income, a life-long practice of conservation, or a desire to use only what is needed (really needed), these folks are paying attention! When can I get over my 1980's perspective of "more prosperity" and start truly paying attention?

Hot, Flat and Crowded #1

Over 2,500 community members joined the Museum at Abravanel Hall last week to hear Tom Friedman speak about his call for the urgent need for a "green revolution" and how it can renew innovation and the economic climate of America.

The UMNH Book Club will be discussing Friedman's latest book, "Hot, Flat, and Crowded" at our next meeting, Monday, April 6, 2009. Details at www.umnh.utah.edu/bookclub

Have you read some or all of this book?? What thoughts and reactions are you having? I'm not quite halfway through myself, but here are some topics of discussion:

Friedman's basic premise in his talk is that there are "too many Americans" in the world today, meaning too many people in a "flattened playing field" living the American Dream, for the planet to sustain the lifestyle. A new definition of what it means to "live like an American" needs to be defined. Friedman believes that it is up to us, the Americans, to redefine and lead the innovation of that dream. There is nothing wrong with the world having the expectations of safety, health, nutrition, education and economic opportunity that has defined the American Dream. It just needs to be reworked in a way that can be sustainable within our planets resources. So what do YOU think about that??

In the opening chapter of the book, Friedman discusses what he means by crowded: he quotes the United Nations Population Division which issued a report (March 13, 2007) stating that "the world population will likely increase by 2.5 billion over the 43 years, passing the current 6.7 billion to 9.2 bilion in 2050. Forty-three years. I could still be alive by then. My children will be nearing their 50's by then. That seems close to me.

Friedman goes on to quote the United Nations Population Fund's executive director, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, stating that "in 2008, more than half of humanity [will be] living in cities, and 'we are not ready for them.'" The Associated Press reported from London that by 2030 the number of city dwellers is expected to climb to five billion. Obaid said smaller cities will absorb the bulk of urban growth: "We're foucsing on the megacities when the data tell us most of the movement will be coming to smaller cities of 500,000 or more," which often lack the water and energy resources and governing institutios to deal with rising migrant populations. [HFC, pp 28-29]

As a resident of a "smaller city" or of a city that is in the midst of "smaller" and rapidly growing metropolitan area, I have taken notice of that. He's talking about Salt Lake Valley. Growth in population, and shifting of population to secondary cities, is us. Are we ready for that? What does that mean for my children when it comes to education, jobs and a place to live?

Joining the UMNH Community Discussion will be Jonny Spendlove, a Senior at the University of Utah and is an assistant at the Hinckley Institute of Politics. He became interested in Tom Friedman by reading his books "Longitudes and Attitudes" and "The World is Flat", and by reading 23 of Mr. Friedman's columns in one night on nytimes.com. (Who says 20 year olds don't read newspapers anymore!) I welcome Jonny into this coversation. He'll be just over 60 in 43 years and, while HE doesn't think that's young, it certainly looks younger and younger to me! Will Jonny be looking at retirement at 65, another pillar of the American Dream?

Okay, Jonny, I need a little of your enthusiasm here! How are you responding to the ideas put forth in Friedman's book and in his visit to Utah last week?