If Stephen Hawkins, considered by many of us to be the ‘brain’ of our generation, is accurate in his prediction, the human species will have poisoned itself to extinction within the next 100 years as a result of the impact of global warming. Either you agree or disagree with Hawkins.
This outline is for those who agree. If you disagree, stop wasting your time reading this now; you have more important things to do.
There is no question Waterloo Region, both public and private sectors, are moving forward in what I consider to be a high paced, positive impact environmental protection and energy efficiency strategy. Over the past 40 years it has been my privilege to meet and work with hundreds of amazing people who have devoted their lives to the battle of environmental survival. The discussion has evolved from the ‘tree hugger era’ to the scientific era…..from being ridiculed for socially expressing environmental concerns to universities establishing courses, businesses spending tens of billions in lowering their carbon footprints, to governments forming coalitions centred around Kyoto and the Paris Accord, to where grade school children will scold their parents for not using the green bin. In short, we have come a long way.
Also ‘in short’….so what…does anything we do to have evolved into an elite region in the battle against global warming really matter? ‘In short’ ….yes…it does matter…but only if we redefine our strategic goals.
The harshest reality we face as Canadians in this war-or-survival is that even if we successfully eliminated every ounce of Green House Gas Emissions (GHGE) in the Waterloo Region (WR), our energies, time and money invested are wasted due to the fact that the entire country of Canada only accounts for 1.6% of GHGE globally which in turn translates into WR accounting for at maximum .016% translating into our impact as being insignificant. That statement will no doubt cause the hair to rise on the back of the neck of many people in disapproval and hopefully so. We have no time to be comfortable with whatever any of us have achieved at this point. We can however, be proud of our accomplishments, proud of the research, the technologies, and most importantly proud of the emerging generation of globally environmentally conscious young people in our schools and graduating from our colleges and universities.
I believe we must come to perceive ourselves as amongst ‘the chosen few’ who have been given the opportunity to make a difference for future generations on a global level. The reality of the ‘small size of our potential impact’ on global GHGE levels should not be a deterrent to our efforts but must be a driving point forward with the perspective we are doing everything within our power to become the leading globally ‘micro-centre’ for the ‘regeneration’ of our environment.
The Engineering Group’s ‘enviro-energy’ phrase is centered on the importance of the integration of all environmental and energy components and forces. We also see a massive business potential and hundreds of thousands of new jobs evolving as we watch the current massive octopus monolithic hydro-grid systems collapsing within the next forty years with it being replaced with evolving technologies. If nothing else the evolution of cyber-terrorism will force the evolution of micro-grid communities and cities….this reality being forced into my consciousness at a dinner party by one of my friends who has an international 30 million strong network who faces counter-terrorism interrogations every time he flies to a foreign country. It is my friends belief ‘micro-grid communities’ are the only protection we have against future cyber-terrorist attacks which already have the ability to shut down our electrical grids and seize control of our water systems.
Prior to this ‘dinner conversation’ the integration of the war against GHGE with cyber-terrorism had never crossed my mind or that of my friend, but once we ‘saw it’, we knew it to be true.
To the leadership at the Region of Waterloo, its major cities and townships, I throw the challenge to you to expand your enviro-energy philosophy and goals to establish our region as the defined global leader in the research, development of technologies, and job creation in the enviro-energy sectors. The world needs a ‘beacon of light’ in our war of survival, let us all define our goals to facilitate our amazingly wonderful ‘corner of the world’, the Region of Waterloo to become that ‘beacon’. Let’s make Stephen Hawkins proud.
Maxwell