I’m sitting in a coffee shop in San Francisco, on the final day of a ten-day West Coast filming trip. In my 30 years traveling the globe directing films for airlines, energy and chemical companies, software firms and public television, I always had a decent expense account. So this is the first time I’ve couch-surfed rather than stay at hotels, the first time I’ve dined in the car or a grocery store instead of Outback Steakhouse. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and water have gotten us by.

Necessity was behind the decision to tap the GrowthBusters support network for accomodations. Since we’ve so far raised only a modest percentage of our production budget for the film, Hooked on Growth, I have to be creative to capture the material we need while spending as little as possible. . . .

I found a great cause that can feed the hungry, reduce poverty, cut CO2 emissions, provide clean water for all, help us survive after peak oil, reduce sprawl, preserve wildlands, eliminate traffic congestion, restore collapsing fisheries and save endangered species. How could there possibly be one solution to all these challenges?

Without a doubt, there is, and it is getting unhooked from Growth Addiction. We put together a unique display for our local community’s Earth Day fair this year. It certainly brought many a curious onlooker to our booth. GrowthBusters volunteers Jason Cross and Bill Jack created this unusual tree. Each leaf trumpeted just one of the many, many environmental causes addressed by our project. . . .

“The future ain’t what it used to be.” Yogi Berra

Who knew Yogi Berra would be so prescient? I just finished Bill McKibben’s newest book, Eaarth: Making A Life On A Tough New Planet, and I am giving it three thumbs up. The book chillingly catalogs how the human enterprise has remade the face of the planet – and in the process created what could be a terrifying future. But it also offers hope. And part of that hope is really not even debatable: the end of growth.

After reading his Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future a few years ago, I caught up with McKibben in Boulder, Colorado to interview him for my documentary, Hooked on Growth. It was an outstanding conversation (see a clip below). In both book and interview he had some brilliant observations and recommendations for humankind to move in a more sustainable direction. . . .

“Go well, do well, my children. Cherish sunsets, wild creatures and wild places. Have a love affair with the wonder and beauty of the earth.”

The environmental and sustainability movements lost a great champion Saturday with the passing of Stewart Udall. Mr. Udall left an indelible mark on the planet by protecting vast areas of North America from the indelible mark of encroachment by humankind.

For the past two years I’d been hoping to make a short trip down the freeway to Santa Fe, New Mexico to chat with Mr. Udall and capture an interview for my film, Hooked on Growth. The fact I procrastinated adds a little to my sadness. The good news is he does appear on the silver screen in the documentary Earth Days, coming to PBS April 19 in the U.S. . . .

It’s been a great night. Romantic dinner for two. Fine organic wine. A little dancing in the living room. John Klemmer’s saxophone is putting you in the mood. It’s the right time of the night…for making love. Good thing you have the right tool in your hands to save the polar bear – an endangered species condom.

Photo by Ansgar Walk

Scientists estimate that 25 years ago our population and consumption levels began to exceed Earth’s capacity to sustain us. Yet for years it’s been politically incorrect to suggest we humans ought to put a lid on our impulse to reproduce. So incorrect, in fact, that many environmental organizations have been unwilling to admit human population growth is a major contributor to the environmental devastation they’re fighting. Most groups settle for just slowing down the rate of destruction, for fear that campaigning for responsible population policies would limit membership or funding. . . .