Focus the Nation

"On January 31, 2008 thousands of schools and organizations will collectively shift the national dialogue on global warming." Focus The Nation is the organization anchoring the event.

Its message is positive yet sober: we can do this, but we had better get cracking. Two quotes stood out (for me) in perusing the site:

"David Orr closed out the event with inspiring—and challenging—words. We may be crossing a political tipping point. But time is not our friend. An aggressive efficiency and renewables policy can get us to where we need to be by mid-century. But we do not have a moment to spare, or the time to indulge in half measures or false solutions."

and,

"Dr. Martin Luther King spoke these prescient words in a speech not long before his assassination:

“We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time [and] life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. … Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words ‘Too late.’”"

The introductory video is a realistic message to this generation regarding the scope of the ecological challenge upon us, and the response required. It realizes the requirements of developing and implementing the necessary infrastructure to make the kinds of Carbon Emission Reductions that are being called for in order to mitigate the effects of the industrial era on the ability of this planet to sustain conditions favorable to human and other life.

Most of the organizing focus seems to be coming from college campuses, which seems appropriate since they are the ones who will inherit what will need to be nothing shy of an evolution of human commerce.

Focus the Nation