Achieving a healthy, sustainable local economy.

This is a good example of local growth busting. I just sent this letter to my local county regarding its growth-centric draft strategic plan:

Tim Wolken
Director, Community Services Department
El Paso County
2002 Creek Crossing
Colorado Springs, CO 80905

Dear Mr. Wolken:

I wish to provide this input regarding the draft El Paso County Strategic Plan 2012 – 2016.

I would like to point out some inconsistencies between Goal #5 and some of the strategies and tactics under that goal.

Goal #5 – Consistently support regional economic strength.

For several years, according to data compiled by the Global Footprint Network (see page 72 of the atlas for N. America data), we are utilizing resources at a rate faster than the Earth can replenish them. This is due to increasing population and economic growth. The current economic crisis is a symptom of our hitting the limits to growth, as envisioned in the computer modeling of the Limits to Growth study performed by scientists at MIT 1970-1972. . . .

Focus Our Outrage Where it Will Count

Last night I finally had a chance to see the film, GASLAND, which I highly recommend. It’s a fairly simple film, but one with heart and authenticity. The film shares the experiences of several families and communities whose water wells were poisoned by contaminants introduced into the groundwater system via nearby hydraulic fracturing. “Fracking,” as it is commonly called, is a process of injecting water, sand and a long list of chemicals into a gas well in order to fracture the rock below and release natural gas that otherwise can’t be recovered.

What was really amazing was to see the outrage among audience members when the lights came on. This screening was hosted by Transition Town Manitou Springs, so there were people in the room who understand the need to reorganize our way of living in a more sustainable fashion. But it was disconcerting to see a few of the most outraged, most likely not Transitioners, seemed to think we could avoid the ills of fracking if we just confine it to certain places or just replace all that natural gas energy with solar power. They did not yet get that the scale of our current economic model can only be supported by the incredible power of fossil fuels. . . .

I’ve long admired Robert Redford for the active role he plays in making this a better world. I’m sharing this commentary from Redford today because he lauds President Obama for “standing up” to “Big Oil.” “Big Oil” is a major growth booster. And the $12 million Redford mentions in congressional campaign contributions over the last 2 years is one of the most powerful forces keeping us addicted to growth.

GrowthBusters is a non-partisan public education project, but I believe we should thank elected representatives who have the courage to embrace the end of growth and stop wasting precious resources trying to get another hit of that destructive drug. We should thank the President for not making yet another huge environmental sacrifice in the interest of fueling growth. But I remind you it is painfully apparent Obama either doesn’t understand the era of growth is over, or doesn’t feel he can be honest with the electorate about that and keep his job. The latest evidence of this is his remarks about why he rejected the pipeline, and his remarks just a few days ago to a crowd of employees at headquarters of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the President had this to say: . . .

Film festival season is upon us. Sundance begins this week, followed by dozens of festivals over the next 4 months. I feel festivals should be a key part of the distribution strategy for GrowthBusters. The film easily attracts enlightened audiences who already understand the scale of the human enterprise has outgrown the planet. We’ve reached a deadly level of combined population size and economic throughput. The challenge is to raise awareness among those who haven’t yet gotten the message. Festivals are a great opportunity to reach audiences who otherwise might not hear about the film or be inspired to attend a community screening.

So I spent the last of our film budget on festival entry fees as 2011 came to a close. This month the notices of rejection or acceptance have begun to come in. . . .

I just finished a great conversation via Skype with an audience in Salem, Oregon who viewed GrowthBusters tonight. Thanks to the Salem Progressive Film Series, I was able to answer questions and participate in the event without jumping on a jet airplane, increasing my footprint, and decreasing my bank account. The questions and comments indicated this audience understands it is time for some great change!

That’s obviously not me in this picture. This is what it would have looked like if I had been there. This photo is from a previous event with another filmmaker, much too tiny to identify.

I promised the crowd I’d share a couple things via my blog. The first of which is a link to great commentary written by former Salem Mayor Mike Swaim. I’m grateful to Mike for doing a great interview for the film, and for joining the screening tonight in person. I was drawn to Mike because I hadn’t run across  many elected officials who understood growth is frequently not in our best interest, and were willing to speak candidly about it. Check out Anti-Growth or Pro-Community? Salem’s Mayor Makes His Case. . . .