In its 20th anniversary event tonight, the Wisconsin Environmental Initiative will highlight how sustainability can become a national strategic imperative.
The WEI event, called Doing Well by Doing Good, will include a “sustainability teach-in” and feature keynote speakers Joel Makower and retired Marine Col. Mark “Puck” Mykleby. The two co-wrote the book “The New Grand Strategy: Restoring America’s Prosperity, Security and Sustainability in the 21st Century.”
In an interview ahead of the event, Mykleby said the environment will be a key factor in ensuring America prospers and that reducing fossil fuel use is a “no-brainer.”
“There is a big vacuum for renewable energy,” he said. “That’s an opportunity.”
Another opportunity, he said, is reallocating some hydrocarbons from fuels into advanced polymers for building. Right now, he said, 20 percent of hydrocarbons in the nation are used for building materials and 80 percent are for fuels. He wants to flip that ratio around.
Mykleby also wants to draw attention to the problem of depleting the main aquifers in the breadbasket of America, calling it “a national security issue at scale.”
Despite all the work to be done to implement their plans, Mykleby says that the main issue holding back the nation is excuse-making by lawmakers and other major decision-makers.
“We can do this. We just have to quit making excuses and hiding behind ideologies,” Mykleby said. “This could be a bright future for America and for the entire world.”
–By Alex Moe,
WisBusiness.com
See the event page here: www.eventbrite.com/e/doing-well-by-doing-good
