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REACHING OUT
As a small organization trying to change the world, we are grateful to the many individuals who are helping to institute Plan B. The following is just a sampling of some of the many people who have inspired us.
Are you involved in disseminating the Plan B vision? We'd love to hear from you. Please write us at epi@earthpolicy.org.
Inspired by a speech given by Lester Brown at LaSalle College, Jill Stein and the Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities launched CODE GREEN—a response to the “triple threat of climate change, oil and resource depletion, and the unraveling economy.”
Jacqueline McMakin was inspired to call people into action and so published a booklet entitled Our Defining Moment: A Call to Create the Future We Truly Want. The booklet provides strategies for what individuals can do on the issues of restoring the earth, poverty, peace, and creating awareness. The booklet is available for free downloading at www.theglobalrenaissance.org.
Waylon Lewis of Elephant Journal posted his first blog on The Huffington Post, which was largely inspired by his interview with Lester Brown, calling it “the most important interview I've had the honor to conduct in 6.25 years of building my little magazine to a level where it might, someday soon, reach a platform from which we might inspire some real change.”
John Robbins gave copies of Plan B 3.0 to the graduating class of his high school alma mater in Concord, NC, where he gave the commencement speech based on the book.
Eduard Oliemans along with his design firm Action Radius created Aspen Plan B, a comprehensive strategy to restructure Aspen, Colorado’s downtown area. Inspired by Lester Brown’s publications, Aspen Plan B proposes redesigning streets and transit systems in order to help eliminate traffic congestion and improve air quality, and create a more vibrant downtown landscape designed for people instead of cars.
The Ojai Valley Green Coalition, in partnership with local libraries and bookstores, launched “Ojai Reads” on Earth Day by distributing copies of Plan B 3.0 and holding a discussion at the Ojai Library.
After hearing Lester Brown address the European Parliament in March 2008, Ilke Pedersen-Beyst immediately organized “Sunbeams,” an info session for expatriates in Brussels on green issues. Sunbeams has since become an initiative circulating news and information on the environment throughout the expat community, holding how-to sessions on sustainable living.
Richard Anderson used Plan B 2.0 as the focus for a church-related fellowship dinner, and has distributed the PDF to co-workers.
A group of Sonoma, California residents held a conference on the problems and solutions presented in Plan B. Taking a local approach, the conference featured presenters from Sonoma County who recognize the neighboring implications of the issues discussed in Plan B.
The Green Sanctuary Committee of the Universalist Unitarian Church of Riverside distributed Plan B 2.0 for a special public book study, running 8 to 10 meetings over the course of several weeks.
In the Political Arena
In an effort to raise public and political awareness on cutting CO2 emissions and raising energy efficiency, the Committee for a Secure Green Future in Massachusetts successfully put a Plan B initiative on its November 2008 ballot. In a landslide decision, constituents in 11 districts voted over 81 percent in favor of legislation that will achieve an 80 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts by 2020 instead of the state’s target of 2050. It also calls for phasing out tax incentives for energy-intensive businesses, and promoting job expansion for local businesses and co-ops involved in sustainable practices. Since the votes were non-binding instructions, the committee plans to continue lobbying and circulating the statewide petition to garner grassroots support beyond the 11 districts. http://www.masschc.org/Secure_Green_Future.php
Ted Turner has distributed 5,500 copies of Plan B 3.0 with a personal letter to Fortune 500 CEOs, green entrepreneurs, Congress, heads of state, the world’s billionaires, U.S. college presidents, U.S. mayors, the European Parliament, environmental NGOs, and others.
TEMA, an NGO in Turkey that focuses on reforestation and soil conservation efforts, is distributing 4,250 copies of the Turkish edition of Plan B 3.0 to members of Parliament, universities, political leaders, volunteers, the media, mayors, libraries, and NGOs.
The Clinton Global Initiative posted the energy chapter from Plan B 2.0 on its website, using it as background material for participants.
Inspired by Plan B and EPI’s work, the Eyebeam Sustainability Research Group is displaying an interactive exhibition entitled “Feedback.” The exhibition comprises 19 projects to encourage awareness of energy and environmental issues. The exhibit includes a mini call center where visitors can call local and national politicians’ offices directly and voice their opinions on government policies.
C. Freeman Allen submitted a copy of "Time for Plan B: Cutting Carbon Emissions 80 Percent by 2020” to the California Air Resources board following solicitation for public comment on its plan for reducing the state's GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. She is working with the League of Women Voters to encourage support of Plan B and is active in developing a Sustainable Claremont Plan.
Linda Ernst was so moved after reading Plan B 3.0 that she wrote an essay drawing attention to the earth’s problems and sent it to her local and state elected representatives, news organizations, friends and family members. Included with her essay was Chapter 13, "The Great Mobilization."
Inspired by EPI, in late 2007, E-Square, Inc., working with the Shiga prefectural government in Japan and major companies in the area, launched the Shiga Eco-Economy Project. This broad collaborative effort is dedicated to making Shiga carbon neutral by 2030, creating a "green Silicon Valley," and launching a set of sustainability indicators to measure progress.
After a discussion on global warming, using examples from Plan B 2.0, Utah's governor appointed 15 high-level leaders to a Blue Ribbon Advisory Committee to come up with ways to implement Plan B at the state level.
The former president of Romania, Ion Iliescu, personally oversees publication of EPI books in his country.
The government of China uses Eco-Economy to train provincial officials on environmental issues.
Iran’s Ministry of the Environment distributed copies of Eco-Economy to 1,000 environmental NGOs.
Iran's Ministry of Natural Resources purchased 500 copies of the Farsi edition of Outgrowing the Earth for distribution throughout the Ministry and to NGOs.
After reading Plan B, the Minister of Water Resources in China invited Lester Brown to talk about the issues, which they did in Beijing. The Minister also developed a "Plan C" (C for China) based on Plan B.
The Green Party in Canada used EPI research in formulating policy.
The Information for Action web site, a free automated lobbying service focusing on the environment in Australia, posts EPI materials.
EPI research prompted a Canadian reader to write to prominent politicians and media representatives, sending either a copy of Plan B or a reference to it online so that they could download the book. He wrote, “Having the books available on-line has been great for this.”
On the Lecture Circuit
Inspired by Plan B 3.0 and desirous of promoting it, Fritjof Capra, physicist and systems theorist, and founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, has prepared a lecture entitled "Systems Thinking and the State of the World: Knowing How to Connect the Dots" and PowerPoint showing the interconnectedness of world problems according to Plan B 3.0.
Al and Anne Mielen established an NGO specifically for giving lectures on Plan B 2.0 and now Plan B 3.0. They have also produced a series of books on environmental issues geared for pre-K and K-2nd grade. Eco-Bean and his helper L'il Sprout teach kids the "need for" and the "how to" conserve at school and at home.
Drawing from key concepts in Plan B 3.0, Shawn Tisdell is crafting a presentation on the impact humans have on environmental problems and what can be done to solve them. He plans to present it to communities in northwestern Wisconsin.
Keri Kaminsky of the Rochester Sierra Club Global Warming/Energy Committee organized a series of educational lectures on topics discussed in Plan B 2.0. She said, “Plan B 2.0 is the best source I’ve seen for looking at the problem as a whole … while offering positive, specific solutions.”
V. Sarathchandran, a retired automobile professional in India, is using the 25 pages of notes he compiled from Plan B 2.0 for presentations in his community. “The points Mr. Brown has made … are so telling that I feel like doing something about it to bring more people aware of the impending disaster…”
Financial Consultant Ben Roberts centered an informational/educational lecture at University of Texas around concepts of Plan B. Roberts incorporated the global environmental challenges we face into his lecture on socially responsible investing.
Inspired by Plan B 2.0, Quiet Riot developed a new performance entitled "One Home, One Family, One Future," This performing partnership uses story, physical comedy, sound effects, music and audience interaction to awaken communities and organizations to the opportunities, benefits and increased quality of life of the new eco-economy. Along with their performance, they sell copies of Plan B 2.0 and Plan B 3.0. They are also involved in created a Green Community powered primarily by solar energy.
Jo Hayward-Haines gave a presentation on how Plan B changed her life and then started a group to study and act on the issues of the book.
Carolyn Hansen was so moved by Plan B that she set up three lectures for Lester Brown in the Hudson Valley.
Soki Oda regularly arranges lectures in Japan for Lester Brown to share EPI’s message with business and academic leaders.
In the Classroom
Hundreds of colleges and universities throughout the world use EPI's books as texts in courses ranging from environmental science to political science and economics, availing themselves of books being available for free downloading.
Roger Ebbage, Director of the Lane Community College Energy Management Program in Eugene, Oregon, made Plan B 3.0 required reading for all new program students and purchased copies of the book for every student.
Energy + Environment OpenCourseWare, an initiative of The Energy + Environment Foundation dedicated to providing free course materials for high schools and universities on global environmental and energy challenges, is using materials derived from Plan B 3.0 in its curriculum.
The Center for Ecological Living and Learning (CELL), based in Maine, has developed course work centered on the Plan B series for use in its college abroad programs. After the president of CELL recommended Plan B to the California’s Alternative Energy Institute, it incorporated the Plan B message into its work, making it the foundation for its sustainable energy model. Currently, CELL students are planning to meet with President Obama to discuss their aspirations for developing domestic and global initiatives on sustainability.
The University of New Mexico, Los Alamos used several chapters from Plan B and Eco-Economy for its “Sustainable Solutions for an Overused World” course reader.
Energy Studies Professor Glenn DePen used an adaptation of Chapter 2 in Plan B 2.0, Beyond the Oil Peak, as an introduction for a collection of fictional essays written by his students projecting the future of energy use 10 years from now. The collection was printed and made available at the Worcester State College Student Center.
Bonnie McComb structured an adult education course around concepts in Plan B 2.0.
Plan B 2.0 inspired Michigan State University’s Land Policy Institute to entitle its new lectures series, “A New Hope,” and invited Lester to give the kickoff lecture.
A professor at Ahfad University in the Sudan compiled EPI materials into a textbook for post-graduate students.
California State University at Chico adopted Plan B as a “book in common,” making it required reading for incoming freshmen and using it as a text in a number of classes.
A high school teacher in California had her students use the Eco-Economy Updates as part of a newsletter design project. They learned about design and the environment.
On the Internet
Neal Whiting of Alberta Canada has developed To Save Civilization, a website that summarizes Plan B 3.0 chapter by chapter. He is currently promoting it by e-mailing a synopsis of the book along with links to his website and to EPI’s website to the 4,000 ministers of his church, the United Church of Canada, along with Members of Parliament, provincial legislatures, and executive members of corporations in Canada.
Alternative Planetáire is a French NGO that was created specifically to promote Plan B for France. The founders were also instrumental in getting Plan B 2.0 published in France.
Lars and Doris Almström translated Plan B 3.0 and got the book published in Sweden. Inspired by the book and wanting to get a Plan B economy moving in Sweden, they established a website to promote EPI's work and to continue translating EPI's publications into Swedish for free downloading. www.planb3.se
Krista Poehler of San Diego plans to get teenagers on board with Plan B by posting topics from Plan B 3.0 onto her business’s web site, www.BeckyBones.com. Poehler started Becky Bones to help spread its mission “Save our Earth, Save Yourself” through its t-shirt and sneaker lines fashioned for teenagers. Twenty five percent of its profits are used for its grant program for teenagers working on environmental projects.
To help disseminate EPI’s vision to cut global carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent by 2020, Peep Toom of Victoria Australia created the website 8020.org.au, which features an audio format of Plan B 3.0.
Ecoshow, the biggest environmental conference in Australasia, quoted texts by EPI on its website.
Kathryn Grace built a lens for Plan B 3.0 and Plan B 2.0 on Squidoo to stimulate interest in the book and encourage people to become a part of the solution to the challenges we are facing. The lens ties current issues to topics discussed in the book.
Ric Bernat is offering Plan B 2.0 on his book-sharing web site BookProject.org. Bernat started BookProject.org to add structure to the way books are shared among friends and family.
Other Uses
Inspired by a talk given by Lester Brown, The Sehgal Foundation started an initiative to green the Aravalli Hills of rural villages in India. The foundation’s goals include planting hundreds of thousands of trees and plants native to the hills and building water storage dams to prevent water run-off from the hills.
A U.K. publishing company used data from EPI and other sources to produce a global wall chart showing a variety of information on biofuels.
Inspired by our articles on bottled water, Jazmine Rhomyk-Rountree organized a challenge for staff and members of her health and fitness center to use refillable bottles instead of buying bottled water.
Northwestern University Professor Rod Ruoff purchased 50 copies of Plan B 2.0 for distribution to colleagues participating in a Boeing workshop.
Wisconsin Partners for SustainAbility used texts from Plan B 2.0 for its Conscious Consumers Discussion Course manual.
Les Robertson in Texas has set up a nonprofit to develop activities on what it can do to implement a local version of Plan B, such as upgrading low-income housing to make it more energy efficient, including replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents. The purpose of the organization is education and implementation.
Richard Worden, the clean energy coordinator for Move-On in Arlington, Virginia, hosted a Live Earth event at which he sold copies of Plan B 2.0 and distributed information on Earth Policy Institute.
In March 2007, the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor pledged to a two-year effort to mobilize members on “Celebrating the Planet” through a series of study/discussion/action teams that would read Plan B 2.0 and listen to one of Lester’s talks on Plan B 2.0. They would then develop ways that members could “produce measurable efforts and visible results” that “act for the greater good of the larger community.”
A 73-year old woman in Oregon purchased 22 copies of Plan B 2.0, half of which went to her library because when she went to check out the book she found 11 other people ahead of her in line. She didn't want people to wait to read this important book. She also goes into schools and local stores and posts EPI's brochure on their bulletin boards.
NHK television in Japan planned and filmed a two-day environmental class taught by Lester Brown. This documentary aired in China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Korea, and Thailand.
Stimulated by the work of EPI, Junko Edahiro founded Japan for Sustainability, an environmental NGO whose mission is to disseminate information on how Japanese companies and the government are working to build an eco-economy.
Mississippi 2020, an environmental NGO whose goal is to make Mississippi the first environmentally sustainable state economy, distributed copies of Eco-Economy to local and state political leaders and organized a conference for Lester Brown where copies of the book were distributed for free.
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