GrowthBusters Update Aug 4, 2010
Where in the world is GrowthBuster Dave Gardner?
The GrowthBusters project really kicked into high gear this year. The pace has kept me from sending updates with any regularity. I’ll try to do better! Lots to share…
THE VANCOUVER DE-GROWTH CONFERENCE in May was the catalyst for a 10-day shoot trip from Vancouver to San Francisco with multiple stops. A highlight was finally interviewing Bill Rees, originator of Ecological Footprint Analysis.
Rees co-authored, Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth back in 1995. In 40 minutes he brilliantly and comprehensively addressed nearly every topic in our film! Check out this Rees presentation: Is Humanity Sustainable?
In California we met up with the wonderful Janaia Donaldson and Robin Mallgren, who produce an online TV series seen by millions called Peak Moment. Check out their program and view our interview here.
I also had great visits in the Bay Area with key people from the Pachamama Alliance and Transition US. Check out this unusual YouTube video we posted of Transition US board member Dave Room. These are just a few of the smart people I interviewed. I’ll try to share more about this trip in my blog.
A 24-DAY U.S. EAST COAST EXPEDITION from Virginia to Maine kept me hopping in June. I began the trip documenting the work of Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population. These enlightened citizens are engaging metro Charlottesville in a public dialog about the optimum population for the region. Watch for more about their project in my blog.
Other highlights included interviews with Nobel-winning economist, Robert Solow, former World Bank senior economist Herman Daly (who pioneered in the fields of ecological and steady state economics), sociologist Juliet Schor (author of Plenitude), No Impact Man (Colin Beavan), Friends of the Earth’s Erich Pica, and the great Gus Speth (too many credentials to list, including environmental advisor to President Jimmy Carter and author of The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability). You simply must read his Toward a New Economy and a New Politics.
I also spent a day at the annual gathering of the Slow Money alliance, a day with environmental journalist Tom Horton (please read his Growing! Growing! Gone! The Chesapeake Bay and the Myth of Endless Growth), and a day capturing the self-sufficiency preparations of Chris Martenson (see his Crash Course) and his family. This brief update can’t begin to include all this trip’s wonderful people and amazing stories. Watch my blog for more.
Thanks to the many many supporters who helped out on these shoots and/or provided a couch or even a guest bedroom, greatly aiding our limited budget. On that subject, please make your tax-deductible contribution to this effort right now.
SPEED IT UP! As we move into editing Hooked on Growth, the demands of high definition video are starting to show. Make that SLOW. Our edit system is chugging under the strain, so we have got to update our hardware and software. If just 50 supporters contribute $100 we can make this happen without eating into the very limited film budget. Please help.
This is not even half the news I want to share with you, so stay tuned; I’ll try to write more often and get caught up. To keep up to date between emails, subscribe to this blog.
RECENT BLOG POSTS (Since the last update):
World Population Day (and we’re still avoiding the subject)
Everything You Wanted to Know About GrowthBusters
Miracle Cure for World’s Environmental Problems
Too Big to Succeed! Bill McKibben’s new book, Eaarth
Save the Polar Bear in Your Bedroom
Trackback from your site.