U.S. Senate Committee on EPW Press Blog Post: NASA’s Theon on Global Warming

THIS is an important reason why I favor focusing attention on the concept of Ecological Footprint vs. man-made global warming.  So far I have seen no debate around the science showing that the developed world is using Earth’s resources faster than Earth is capable of regenerating them.  (See Global Footprint Network and numerous posts in this blog, including yesterday’s.)  Whether the causes of global warming are man-made or not, science shows that our carbon footprint represents half of our total ecological footprint, which is unsustainable.  From the Global Footprint Network website:

Global Footprint Network

Ecological + Carbon Footprints

“Global climate change is one of humanity’s greatest challenges and one of the most important indicators that we are in ecological overshoot. Since the carbon footprint is 50 percent of humanity’s overall Ecological Footprint, reducing our carbon footprint is essential to ending ecological overshoot.

Today the spotlight is on carbon, but climate change is happening as we approach other critical limits in fisheries, forests, cropland, and water. Unless we focus on ending overshoot as a whole-systems problem, some of our solutions to global warming could cause large, unintended impacts. In the rush toward biofuels, for example, we are in many cases shifting pressure to cropland and forestland.”

Consider supporting the Global Footprint Network and share this information to circumvent the debate on global warming. Urgent attention to our ecological footprint and to rallying for creative innovations towards “One Planet Living” will allow us to avoid costly delay’s caused by protracted debates on global warming.

Below is an excerpt from the Senate Committee blog post; here’s the full text. Note that it’s on the Minority Page.

Washington DC: NASA warming scientist James Hansen, one of former Vice President Al Gore’s closest allies in the promotion of man-made global warming fears, is being publicly rebuked by his former supervisor at NASA.

Retired senior NASA atmospheric scientist Dr. John S. Theon, the former supervisor of James Hansen, NASA’s vocal man-made global warming fears soothsayer, has now publicly declared himself a skeptic and declared that Hansen “embarrassed NASA” with his alarming climate claims and said Hansen was “was never muzzled.”  Theon joins the rapidly growing ranks of international scientists abandoning the promotion of anthropogenic global warming fears. [See: U.S. Senate Minority Report Update: More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims & See Prominent Scientist Fired By Gore Says Warming Alarm ‘Mistaken’ & Gore laments global warming efforts: 'I've failed badly' - Washington Post – November 11, 2008 ]

“I appreciate the opportunity to add my name to those who disagree that global warming is man-made,” Theon wrote to the Minority Office at the Environment and Public Works Committee on January 15, 2009. “I was, in effect, Hansen’s supervisor because I had to justify his funding, allocate his resources, and evaluate his results. I did not have the authority to give him his annual performance evaluation,” Theon, the former Chief of the Climate Processes Research Program at NASA Headquarters and former Chief of the Atmospheric Dynamics & Radiation Branch explained. [Note: Here are the results a Google Scholar search on Theon. - Theon's complete written correspondence to EPW reprinted at the end of this report. ]

2008 Living Planet Report, New Water Footprint Index, and the Direct Link Between Financial and Ecological Crises

Late last year, NextNowCollab was part of a conversation marking the launch of the Living Planet Report 2008 at Global Business Network in San Francisco. Conversation starters included Mathis Wackernagel of Global Footprint Network, Greg Searle, Executive Director of Bioregional North America (who gave a great presentation on “One Planet Living“), and Dr. Jean Rogers of Arup.

The 2008 report was released by Global Footprint Network, World Wildlife Federation and Zoological Society of London and offers a look at “nature’s balance sheet,” with new figures on how humanity is using resources, how that compares among nations, and how ecological debt is mounting.

An important development in this year’s report is the adoption of a new index created (finally!) to measure human demand on water: the water footprint, developed by University of Twente, Netherlands Professor Arjen Hoekstra, who also founded the Water Footprint Network, aimed at promoting the transition toward sustainable, fair and efficient use of freshwater resources by advancing the science and application of the water footprint.  The “Water Footprint” measures human demand on fresh water and complements the Ecological Footprint’s measurement of human demand on (other) living resources to give a much fuller footprint.

“The water footprint enables us to more clearly understand the role that global trade plays in addressing local water scarcity. By tracking the flow of water and living resources in our globalized economy through the water footprint and the Ecological Footprint, we are able to advocate for the effective management of these resources.”  Global Footprint Network Manager of Research and Standards Shiva Niazi

The mounting ecological debt data is relevant not only to crises such as climate change and shrinking biodiversity, but also to the current economic crisis:

Protecting the True Fundamentals

A Sustainable Investment Firm’s Response to the Financial Crisis

Environmental concerns tend to take a back seat in tough economic times. But at least one asset management firm is taking exactly the opposite tack – stressing that now, more than ever, sound investing means adequately valuing the underlying natural assets upon which all our economic systems depend.

“So far, the economic crisis we are facing has been explained by financial leverage,” said Carsten Henningsen, co-founder of the global sustainability fund Portfolio 21. “However, there is a direct link between the financial crisis and the ecological crisis. To the extent that ecological limits place limits on the growth rates of earnings, stock prices will fall.”
———————

Now that the Footprint of the world economy exceeds what the planet can regenerate, Henningsen said, “Investors need to readjust their return expectations, because the earth does not have the ecological or financial capacity to sustain unlimited growth” if that growth is linked to increased resource consumption. “Growth of real wealth is restrained by scarcity of natural resources like oil as well as the capacity of the planet to absorb CO2.”

Companies that understand the ecological crisis and are implementing environmental strategies to gain a competitive advantage are those that will be best poised in the long term, Henningsen said

But the issue goes beyond that, according to Henningsen and Portfolio 21 co-founder Leslie Christian. Ultimately, they say, protecting one’s 401K means safeguarding the very viability of the U.S. and world economies. And that means investing in a way that shifts these economies as a whole in a more resource-efficient direction. For example, Portfolio 21 has created investment vehicles to help localize economies, investing in “businesses based on local manufacturing and distribution as a healthy alternative to energy-intensive multinationals shipping goods around the globe.”

What the Meltdown Can Teach Us About Resource Debt

In a recent letter to shareholders, Henningsen and Christian drew a parallel between the financial industry meltdown and the dangers of our rapidly compounding ecological debt.

In the U.S. in the past few years, instead of a sound economy based on products and commerce, they wrote, “We have a financial economy evolving into a casino-like scheme, with money being used to make more money that has little or no connection to underlying functional economic transactions. Without self-imposed limits, the financial system has expanded beyond its means, making it vulnerable to seemingly insignificant disruptions that serve to topple the entire structure like a game of Jenga.”

Just like the financial markets, the world economy has expanded well beyond what the ecological bottom line can support. “Considering the damage that has occurred within an arguably superfluous element of our economy, it is difficult to imagine the severity of the situation as it relates to an absolutely essential element of the economy – the ability of the earth to provide critical ecosystem services like clean air and water, as well as natural resources like timber, crop land and, of course, food.”

That is more reason than ever, Henningsen and Christian say, why smart investing means addressing our underlying resource challenges. Says Christian: “For the planet, there is no Federal Reserve Bank, no lender of last resort unless we can figure out a way to borrow from another planet. The real bottom line is the ecological bottom line that supports the foundation of life and our livelihoods.”  Global Footprint Network blog post

Celebrating Inauguration Day

A few of my grainy images from our great nation’s capital, on and around January 20, 2009, celebrating “Renewing America’s Promise.”

Tomorrow is Day One.  It’s going to take all of us.

Yes We Can!

"You'll Never Walk Alone" at the Lincoln Memorial--what a concert!

One of many Martin Luther King, Jr. Day events, this one with Ben Afleck

Downtown store window--"Presidential Cool"

Our Capitol; current estimates are approx. 2 million attended the inauguration

The First Couple at the Western States Inaugural Ball

Citizen Action Items: change.org Top Ten and NEW change.gov Citizen Briefing Book

If you haven’t already checked it out, please consider going to change.org and voting on your favorite ideas for Change In America. (VOTING ENDS 5 PM ET JANUARY 15.)  It’s too late to submit your own ideas to change.org, but the Obama-Biden Transition team just announced a Citizen Briefing Book in the Open Government section on change.gov:  “an online forum where you can share your ideas, and rate or offer comments on the ideas of others.  The best-rated ones will rise to the top, and after the Inauguration, we’ll print them out and gather them into a binder like the ones the President receives every day from experts and advisors. If you participate, your idea could be included in the Citizen’s Briefing Book to be delivered to President Obama.”

Below are the top ranking ideas on change.org (showing current numbers of votes), but there are many others to choose from, in many categories, including Global Warming, Domestic and Global Poverty, Energy, Environmental Conservation, Economy, Healthcare, Social Entrepreneurship, Education, Technology Policy, and Civic Engagement:

• 14,416
• Legalize the Medicinal and Recreational Use of Marijuana

• Legalize the Medicinal and Recreational Use of Marijuana. “Marijuana has been proven to relieve the suffering of the chronically ill, as well as disabled patients undergoing chemotherapy, and other forms of medical treatments, yet using it for medical purposes conti…

  - posted by Jose Torres (Unemployed / Disabled / Activist / Supporter), Newark, NJ 1st Place   (3634 comments)

• 11,442
  Free Single Payer Health Care

  Health Care is a fundamental human right.  No one should have sell their house to pay for their mother’s cancer.  No one should have to choose between food and medicine. Free basic health care for all! Why? 1) Its the most efficient approach 2) It works.&…

  - posted by Jared S (activist), Los Angeles, CA 2nd Place   (779 comments)

• 10,823
  Appoint Secretary of Peace in Department of Peace and Non-Violence

  Our planet, our media, our social interactions, our homes all suffer from the epidemic of inter-personal violence and warfare that plagues America. With the establishment of a Department of Peace and Non-Violence, with a respected Secretary of Peace in the Presi…

  - posted by Stephen Zendt (I am a Senior Citizen, work in Financial Services), Walnut Creek, CA 3rd Place   (901 comments)

• 10,522
  Health Freedom IS Our First Freedom

  Health Freedom – Our First Freedom! More information: http://www.HealthFreedomUSA.org/index.php?p=1733 Health Freedom means the right to control what happens to your body, choosing your own health path, making our own health choices as you see fit. Please vote for…

  - posted by Bill Pleasants (Aspiring farmer, retired engineer) 4th Place   (612 comments)

• 10,516
  Save Small Business From the CPSIA

  A Proposal From the handmadetoyalliance.org: In 2007, large toy manufacturers who outsource their production to China and other developing countries violated the public’s trust. They were selling toys containing dangerously high lead content, unsafe small parts…

  - posted by Cecilia Leibovitz (Founder, CraftsburyKids.com) 5th Place   (896 comments)

• 10,450
  End the war on drugs

  We have the highest non-violent incarceration rate in the world. We need to free up our police, jails and courts to deal with people who actually pose a clear and present danger to life and liberty. Stop persecuting non-violent drug users. Prefer regulation to prohib…

  - posted by dan b (realist) 6th Place   (256 comments)

• 10,303
  Make the grid green in 10 years

  Al Gore has made it his mission to get the U.S. electrical grid off of carbon-based fuel (coal, oil, etc.) in the next ten years. Make this the centerpiece of a national energy plan.

  - posted by Liz Rose (1Sky Campaign), Washington, DC 7th Place   (97 comments)

• 9902
  Pass Marriage Equality Rights for LGBT Couples Nationwide

  All people should be allowed equal rights when it comes to civil marriage no matter the sexual orientation or gender identity of the spouses. This is the ultimate civil rights battle of our time. We need to make sure our friends, brothers, sisters, mothers and father…

  - posted by Jen N. (Editor, Women’s Rights Blog), Washington, DC 8th Place   (300 comments)

• 9877
  Get FISA Right, repeal the PATRIOT Act, and restore our civil liberties

  Update, January 12: please check out Steve Elliot’s Get FISA Right: Last Chance To Vote Against Domestic Spying and consider voting for it on digg FISA and the PATRIOT Act strike at the core of our Fourth and First Amendment Rights and institutionalize a surveillanc…

  - posted by Jon Pincus (strategist, activist, writer) 9th Place   (106 comments)

• 9557
  Pass the DREAM Act – Support Higher Education for All Students

  The problem: Many American students graduate from college and high school each year, and face a roadblock to their dreams: they can’t drive, can’t work legally, can’t further their education, and can’t pay taxes to contribute to the economy just because they were bro…

  - posted by Dream ACTivist (MA Graduate Immigrant LGBT Student), San Francisco, CA 10th Place   (1353 comments)

• 7758
  Develop & Implement a National Strategy for Sustainability

  The Obama Administration needs to lead our country in developing and implementing a National Strategy for Sustainability. With only 5% of the world’s population, the US consumes 1/4 of the natural resources. Meanwhile humanity uses 30% more of the earth’s bio-capac…

  - posted by Rob Wheeler (Organizer – Campaign for a Sustainable America), Scotland, PA 11th Place   (112 comments)

• 7034
  Forgive Student Loans: Stimulate the Middle and Lower Middle Class

  Forgive Student Loans!    ^ The American middle and lower classes are crippled under the weight of educational debt; in these unusual times, as we bail out lenders and executives, we encourage the Obama administration to forgive student loans, provid…

  - posted by Sarah Szalavitz (Entrepreneur), Beverly HIlls, CA 12th Place   (238 comments)

• 7001
  Bridging the Empathy Gap – Yes We Can!

  Obama says, “Empathy strikes me as the most important quality that we need in America and around the world.” Mutual understanding and awareness result in effective resolution of conflicts, bridging of ideological divides, and wise use of our resources. Practica…

  - posted by Jori Manske (Catherine Cadden, Inbal Kashtan, Kathleen Macferran, Miki Kashtan, Sylvia Haskvitz – NVC Trainers) 13th Place   (358 comments)

• 6731
  Vegan school lunch options

  Require USDA to facilitate healthful plant-based (vegan) school lunch options to promote public health, freedom from hunger, environmental quality, nonviolence, and kindness to animals. ———————— The Problem Under the mandate from the U.S. Depar…

  - posted by Alex Hershaft (Advocate for healthful nonviolent diets), Bethesda, MD 14th Place   (771 comments)

• 6701
  Appoint a Special Prosecutor for the Crimes of the Bush Administration

  President-elect Obama recently said, “if I found out that there were high officials who knowingly, consciously broke existing laws, engaged in coverups of those crimes with knowledge forefront, then I think a basic principle of our Constitution is nobody above the la…

  - posted by Bob Fertik (President of Democrats.com), New York, NY 15th Place   (665 comments)

• 6094
  ReBuild and RePower America with a Green Stimulus Package.

  The inevitable economic stimulus package proposed by the new administration should be used to start solving our economic and climate crises simultaneously – putting Americans back to work with Green Jobs that rebuild our nation’s infrastructure using clean technology…

  - posted by Jake Brewer (PowerShift09.org), Washington, DC 16th Place   (70 comments)

• 6060
  Fully Fund Medicaid Waivers for the Developmentally Disabled

  ***ALERT:  Make sure your VOTE counts.  Click on the number to the left with “Vote” under it – it will change to “Voted”.  Registering on this site and posting a comment is not a vote!*** National Priority for the Economic Stimulu…

  - posted by Renee Beauregard (Mom, advocate, small business owner), Aurora, CO 17th Place   (528 comments)

• 5820
  End the Genocide in Darfur

  President-Elect Obama must create a peace surge for Sudan, focused on ending the crisis in Darfur rather than managing it.  Supporting a U.N.-authorized peacekeeping force that actively protects civilians and holding the perpetrators of the genocide to account a…

  - posted by Jerry Fowler (President, Save Darfur Coalition) 18th Place   (220 comments)

• 5757
  END CORPORATE “PERSONHOOD”

  An 1886 Supreme Court clerk’s headnotes misreading (Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad) applied the 14th Amendment to corporations, extending to them all the rights, but none of the responsibilities, of human persons.  The result has been…

  - posted by ED CIACCIO (RETIRED TEACHER/CURRENT ACTIVIST) 19th Place   (152 comments)

• 5730
  Protect Our Food Supply – Stop NAIS!

  The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) poses the greatest threat to local and sustainable agriculture since the Nixon administration. NAIS was originally designed to give huge corporations help with export markets. It will not stop animal disease or impro…

  - posted by Pamela Matlack Klein (Writer/Farmer/Slow Food Eater), Appomattox, VA 20th Place   (518 comments)

HeartMath emWave Wins 2009 CES Show Award; Special Offer for NextNow

(The Institute of HeartMath is offering all NextNowNetwork and Collab members a 10% discount on emWaves.  A coupon code will be sent to members via email.)

The Institute of HeartMath (IHM)–the organization behind NNCollab’s collaboration project Global Coherence Initiative–just announced that the emWave Personal Stress Reliever WON the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show Last Gadget Standing People’s Choice Award, and came in second in the CES auditorium award.  From PRWeb:  Prior to the People’s Choice Competition, expert judges, including tech expert and Last Gadget Standing host Robin Raskin, and eight editors from NetShelter Technology Media network partner sites, such as Geek.com, Slashgear.com, MobileBurn.com, PhoneArena.com, FixYa.com, I4U.com, TechEBlog.com, and TGDaily.com, reviewed more than a hundred products. The experts narrowed the list to the top ten world-changing technologies of today that are sure to stand the test of time. Judges selected products most relevant to consumers’ lives, as well as those that fit the direction that the consumer electronics industry is headed. emWave PSR was selected by the judges as one of these top ten technologies and was then voted on by consumers.

The emWave will be a featured technology at the NextNowNetwork and Collab meeting in late February in Santa Cruz on Vizualizing EcoSentience (details TBA).

An earlier NNCollab post, Collective Heart Intelligence, introduced IHM’s De-Stress Kit as a resource for managing personal stress, a critical step in having access to our own highest intelligence.  Stress inhibits cortical activity.  When this happens, the higher capacities of the brain (i.e., creativity) are less available to us.  To be individually intelligent (and create opportunity to be collectively intelligent), we need access to the higher capacities of the brain.  The emWave is a bio-feedback technology that helps create this condition by focusing on heart rhythms, since the heart communicates with the brain.  In fact, both Rollin McCraty at IHM and Dean Radin, a colleague at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, have shared with me that the heart sends more information to the brain than it receives—and it’s the only organ where that’s true.  The emWave teaches us to bring ourselves into a coherent state where higher order functioning of the brain is possible.  From the IHM website:

Stress creates incoherence in our heart rhythms. However, when we are in a state of high heart rhythm coherence the nervous system, heart, hormonal and immune systems are working efficiently and we feel good emotionally. emWave Personal Stress Reliever helps you reduce your emotional stress by displaying your level of heart rhythm coherence in real time. But emWave does more than just display coherence levels. It guides you toward stress relief by training you to shift into a coherent, high performance state.”

View the CES Video:

Press Release can be seen on PRWeb or BusinessWire.  For another NNCollab post on IHM, see Why Wait for Earth Day?

Stanford Social Innovation Review

NNCollab met some of the people at the Stanford Social Innovation Review at last fall’s SoCap08 in San Francisco and Social Venture Network member gathering in La Jolla.  Here’s SSIR’s Top Five Articles of 2008 that posted today.  They include one called, “Rediscovering Social Innovation”–close to our hearts:

Highlights of 2008: Top Five Articles

In the spirit of awards season, SSIR brings you the best of 2008—starting with the top five most-read articles (as measured by hits on our Web site). We’ve listed them in order of popularity.

Achieving Breakthrough Performance
From the Girl Scouts, to Partners In Health, to the city of Providence, R.I., great organizations have one thing in common: great managers. These managers, in turn, share four simple management principles that they use to guide organizations from mere mediocrity to stand-out stardom.

The Greening of Wal-Mart
For much of its history, Wal-Mart’s corporate management team toiled inside its “Bentonville Bubble,” narrowly focused on operational efficiency, growth, and profits. But now the world’s largest retailer has widened its sights, building networks of employees, nonprofits, government agencies, and suppliers to “green” its supply chains. Here’s how and why the world’s largest retailer is using a network approach to decrease its environmental footprint—and to increase its profitability.

More Bang for the Buck
Scores of pundits have written books, research reports, and articles about how business leaders extracted greater productivity from their companies. Yet few have paid attention to this topic in the nonprofit sector. Recognizing that increasing productivity could be a powerful way for nonprofit organizations to multiply the impact of their work, the authors explore how three nonprofits succeeded in reducing costs without sacrificing the quality of their services.

Rediscovering Social Innovation
Social entrepreneurship and social enterprise have become popular rallying points for those trying to improve the world. These two notions are positive ones, but neither is adequate when it comes to understanding and creating social change in all of its manifestations. The authors make the case that social innovation is a better vehicle for doing this. They also explain why most of today’s innovative social solutions cut across the traditional boundaries separating nonprofits, government, and for-profit businesses.

2009 Sustainable Industry Trends

NextNowCollab was introduced to Hanson Bridgett LLP’s Sustainable Business series through Social Venture Network and the B Corporation movement.  The next one is on January 22.

What are the major trends that will influence sustainable industries in 2009?  Hanson Bridgett LLP is hosting “2009 Sustainable Industry Trends “ in San Francisco on Thursday, January 22, 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.  Topics will include renewable energy, smart building, green jobs, climate change, new policies and the latest developments in the new economy.  Panelists include:  Brian Back, Sustainable Industries; Jared Blumenfeld, San Francisco Department of the Environment; Mark Kerstens, BP Solar; and Sandy Mendler, Mithun Architects + Designers + Planners.  For more information, please visit HBsustainable.com. Pre-registration is required.  Space is limited.  Admission is $35.

Sustainable Business Leadership Forum

Get the latest developments and trends in sustainable business every month at Hanson Bridgett LLP. The Sustainable Business Leadership Forum features expert speakers from various sectors of the sustainable movement to discuss private/public sector initiatives, political advocacy, and corporate social responsibility. You’ll get in-depth information about the opportunities, challenges, and profits associated with going green.

2009 Sustainable Industry Trends

Thursday, January 22
5:30–8:00 PM

Please join us to explore emerging trends and opportunities that will impact sustainable industries in the Western U.S. in 2009. Topics will include renewable energy, smart building, green jobs, climate change, new policies and the latest developments in the new economy.

Featured speakers:
Jared Blumenfeld — Director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment
Mark Kerstens — VP Marketing & Sales, BP Solar
Sandy Mendler — Principal of Mithun Architects + Designers + Planners

Moderated by:
Brian Back — Founding Editor & Publisher, Sustainable Industries

Location:
Hanson Bridgett LLP Conference Facilities
425 Market Street, 26th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105

Pre-registration is required.
Space is limited.

Admission is $35

Register Here

These events (and their attendees) may be photographed, videotaped, or otherwise recorded by Hanson Bridgett LLP. By attending, you consent in perpetuity to any and all use of your image, voice, or other participation in the event in any such recording.

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Jared Blumenfeld
Director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment

Jared Blumenfeld is Director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment. SF Environment develops innovative, practical and wide-ranging environmental programs, fostering groundbreaking legislation, and educating the public by providing comprehensive and easily accessible information on a wide range of sustainable practices.

Some of SF Environment’s ambitious—but deliverable—environmental goals include attaining 75 percent recycling by 2010 and curbing San Francisco’s greenhouse gas emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

Blumenfeld is a member of the Board of Directors of the Treasure Island Development Authority. He was the chair of U.N. World Environment Day 2005. The five-day event, which was held in San Francisco on June 1-5, 2005 was celebrated with “Green Cities: Where The Future Lives” as the overarching theme. He received his law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley, and the University of London.

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Mark Kerstens
VP Marketing & Sales, BP Solar

BP Solar is one of the world’s largest solar companies with over 30 years’ experience and installments in over 160 countries.  BP Solar designs, manufactures and markets products which use the sun’s energy to generate electricity for use in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors.  With new headquarter offices in San Francisco and 2,300 employees, the company has ambitious growth plans over the next few years, and plans to invest about $1.5 billion in alternative energy projects this year.

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Sandy Mendler
Principal, Mithun Architects + Designers + Planners

A principal with Mithun architects + designers + planners, Sandy Mendler is a nationally recognized design leader, author, and advocate for Sustainable Design to transform the construction industry. Her innovative high-performance office and mixed-use projects include the NOAA Pacific Region Headquarters in Hawaii, EPA Environmental Research Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, new Veterinary Medicine research laboratory for UC Davis and headquarters buildings for the World Resources Institute and National Wildlife Federation.

Sandy has been an active member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE), and previously served as chair. She has also served on the board of directors of the US Green Building Council (USGBC), and contributed to the early development of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System, and participated in the evolving international standard to rate green buildings around the world. Sandy has been recognized by the IIDA, Interiors & Sources magazine as an Environmental Champion, and recipient of the Collins & Aikman “Sustainable Design Leadership Award” and the Construction Specifiers Institute’s National Environmental Sensitivity Award.

Previously sustainable design principal for HOK, Sandy joined Mithun in San Francisco. Mithun is a nationally recognized sustainable design practice focusing on architecture, landscape architecture, interiors, urban design and ecology.

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Brian Back
Founding Editor & Publisher, Sustainable Industries

Brian Back serves as President and Owner of Sustainable Industries, the leading media company for business leaders, policymakers and entrepreneurs working in the new economy on the West Coast and beyond. Sustainable Industries highlights how businesses are achieving economic advantage through environmental innovation and social responsibility initiatives.

Brian is a leading expert in clean energy, green building, social innovation, and economic trends impacting business in these emerging sectors. For nearly two decades, Brian has worked in journalism and the media. His career began as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he covered urban development and sprawl issues in one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. Brian was one of the first business journalists in the United States to develop a beat in sustainability for business, while working as a reporter and columnist for The Business Journal in Portland, Oregon. His work has been featured in significant magazines, newspapers, trade journals and online media outlets. He speaks regularly at business conferences and the well-respected annual Sustainable Industries Economic Forums.

Collective Heart Intelligence

At last month’s Program for the Future (the NextNow-born initiative focused on reinvigorating the development of tools and technologies to support collective intelligence), one of the most interesting movements I observed emerging out of those who chose to be there was toward creating a broader definition of “intelligence.”  My opinion, which seemed widely supported, is that real collective intelligence isn’t a product solely of human thinking–it actually requires that we tap in to ALL of the human intelligences, as well as the intelligence of Nature. It must include the intelligence of the heart.  If this were truly and sincerely accomplished, I believe collective intelligence would represent a Whole greater than the sum of the parts–something not at all guaranteed by a collective intelligence that is the product of thinking minds alone.

So to balance the good thinking we’re all doing, this post is the first in a series to shift focus away from thinking, and starts at a very essential level–using the intelligence of the heart to manage human stress.  After all, how “intelligent” are we capable of being when we’re under chronic or extreme stress, including at a collective level?

Several of the most active members of the NextNow community have experience with the Institute of HeartMath, the organization that NextNow Collaboratory is working with in support of the Global Coherence Initiative.  HeartMath is a non-profit stress research institute that has been provideing stress solutions to the military, government, hospitals, police, Fortune 500 companies, and school systems for over 17 years.  They received a $1 million US Dept of Education grant to develop programs to reduce test anxiety and improve emotional resilience and academic performance that achieved significant results within 3 months. Based on the effectiveness of HeartMath for resilience training, they recently were awarded a grant to train soldiers pre-deployment and in Iraq and are applying for other grants to help military families post-deployment. They also have support in Congress.

In Informal Learning (Pfeiffer, 2006) by NN’er Jay Cross, there is a paragraph about my early experience with HeartMath tools as a director of executive development at the Haas School, UC Berkeley:

In 1995, Claudia brought Heartmath into the executive program at UC Berkeley.  The participating CEO’s and business unit heads were expected to return to their organizations with hard solutions to complex global problems, not theories about “soft stuff” like the role of heart intelligence in decision-making.  When the topic was introduced there was a stunned silence and the usual signs of withdrawal—heads turning to look out windows, people suddenly realizing they needed to use the restroom.  But when the technique was offered and the biofeedback technology was hooked up to a few willing volunteers, seeing was believing. The implications of the internal coherence they observed were obvious, but what to do with this new awareness given the prevailing paradigm, was not.

HeartMath’s published research has identified a measurable psycho-physiological state called coherence that enables individuals to better manage their emotional energy, take the drama out of stressful situations and connect with a deeper awareness. As people learn simple practices to create this state of psycho-physiological equilibrium, which brings order to the heart rhythm pattern, they can quickly improve cognitive function, regain emotional balance and improve personal health and well-being.

To become collectively heart intelligent, we need to care for our own individual level of coherence.  To that end, Heartmath has written a De-Stress Kit for the Changing Times that provides a few simple coherence-building practices to help people intercept and manage stress during this period of challenge and uncertainty. It’s included under the “Resource” heading for review, where you’ll find a link to a free download from HeartMath.