Mapping The Near Future: How To Build a Sustainable Planet

Mankind is faced with an existential question: Can we fix this mess in time? Sea level rise, ocean acidification, pollution of water, air and soil, mass extinction, a robotic future with fewer and fewer jobs for people. CO2 levels continue to climb, and with that global temperatures. From a preindustrial level of 300 parts per million, we have already crossed 400, and with that a global increase of at least two degrees is already ‘baked in.’

A miniature model of a city powered by alternative energy on the exhibition floor during the Intersolar North America Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, July 11, 2017. Established in 2008, the conference focuses on photovoltaics, energy storage systems, smart renewable energy, solar heating and cooling technologies. Photographer: Cayce Clifford/Bloomberg

To make a Game of Thrones analogy, while the Seven Kingdoms battle for primacy, The White Walkers, awoken after eons of dormancy, are on the march to destroy them all.   For us, “Summer is Coming” as the ice caps melt and the tundra begins to burp long trapped methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.   Will we be done in because we are as a species “all too human,” too petty, greedy, tribal, short-sighted, too wilfully ignorant, too afraid to act against a threat so monumental?

This column is dedicated to those who are pointing the way towards a livable future.    I seek leaders in building sustainability at scale, people whose accomplishments and vision need to be celebrated, those who see what is becoming possible given the explosion of innovation we are experiencing in virtually every domain of human endeavor.    In the next 15 years, we will see an acceleration of advancements in energy, computing, transportation, housing, agriculture, infrastructure, medicine, material sciences, education, so that, in effect, the world can be remade.    That is ‘sustainability at scale,’ a comprehensive, integrated, 360 degree implementation of a grand plan for our collective survival.

Many trillions will have to be invested globally to provide the basics of food, water, housing, transportation and employment to what will be 8.5 billion by 2030, up from 7.2 billion today, according to the UN.    It is estimated that it will cost $3.6 trillion just to address U.S. roads, bridges and tunnels, which recently received a D+ rating from the American Society of Civil Engineers.  Build we must, and massively, and we need to do it consuming far fewer resources than we do today.  

As Shelley Poticha, Director of Urban Solutions at the NRDC put it recently in a speech, when it comes to sustainability it’s “go big or go home.”     Sustainability is not merely the concern of environmentalists.   It is a planetary goal that involves every field of human endeavor.   As such, the necessary effort towards building a sustainable planet represents the largest economic opportunity in human history.   Now, are we evolved enough as a species to choose this path?   Can we weather the exponential changes now upon us and render our desired future?  There will be massive dislocations.   The world will become increasingly unrecognizable.  But within this dynamic, we can remake our social, economic, and political relations, and our relationship to nature.    As we seek to map out a near future we’d want for ourselves, we need to learn how to become proper stewards of this earth.

Over the course of the next 52 weeks in 52 columns, I will be telling the stories of how, in various fields, how we can and must get from where we are to where we need to be, interviewing those among us now ‘colonizing the future,’ who are preparing the way for us, so that we in turn are prepared, so that this plausible future may become more possible.   From there, we will have a public ‘draft plan’ for the future, one that we can build upon together.

If there is anyone or any project you wish for me to consider that addresses ‘sustainability at scale,’ please write me at marshallwbrowniii@gmail.com.    Many fortunes will be made restoring and preserving the planet.   Let’s get to work, and now.

To make a Game of Thrones analogy, while the Seven Kingdoms battle for primacy, The White Walkers, awoken after eons of dormancy, are on the march to destroy them all. For us, “Summer is Coming” as the ice caps melt and the tundra begins to burp long trapped methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. Will we be done in because we are as a species “all too human,” too petty, greedy, tribal, short-sighted, too wilfully ignorant, too afraid to act against a threat so monumental?

This column is dedicated to those who are pointing the way towards a livable future. I seek leaders in building sustainability at scale, people whose accomplishments and vision need to be celebrated, those who see what is becoming possible given the explosion of innovation we are experiencing in virtually every domain of human endeavor. In the next 15 years, we will see an acceleration of advancements in energy, computing, transportation, housing, agriculture, infrastructure, medicine, material sciences, education, so that, in effect, the world can be remade. That is ‘sustainability at scale,’ a comprehensive, integrated, 360 degree implementation of a grand plan for our collective survival.

Many trillions will have to be invested globally to provide the basics of food, water, housing, transportation and employment to what will be 8.5 billion by 2030, up from 7.2 billion today, according to the UN. It is estimated that it will cost $3.6 trillion just to address U.S. roads, bridges and tunnels, which recently received a D+ rating from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Build we must, and massively, and we need to do it consuming far fewer resources than we do today.

As Shelley Poticha, Director of Urban Solutions at the NRDC put it recently in a speech, when it comes to sustainability it’s “go big or go home.” Sustainability is not merely the concern of environmentalists. It is a planetary goal that involves every field of human endeavor. As such, the necessary effort towards building a sustainable planet represents the largest economic opportunity in human history. Now, are we evolved enough as a species to choose this path? Can we weather the exponential changes now upon us and render our desired future? There will be massive dislocations. The world will become increasingly unrecognizable. But within this dynamic, we can remake our social, economic, and political relations, and our relationship to nature. As we seek to map out a near future we’d want for ourselves, we need to learn how to become proper stewards of this earth.

Over the course of the next 52 weeks in 52 columns, I will be telling the stories of how, in various fields, how we can and must get from where we are to where we need to be, interviewing those among us now ‘colonizing the future,’ who are preparing the way for us, so that we in turn are prepared, so that this plausible future may become more possible. From there, we will have a public ‘draft plan’ for the future, one that we can build upon together.

If there is anyone or any project you wish for me to consider that addresses ‘sustainability at scale,’ please write me at marshallwbrowniii@gmail.com. Many fortunes will be made restoring and preserving the planet. Let’s get to work, and now.

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