David Orr, Chairman of the Oberlin Collage Environmental Studies Program, summed up his message in a few words to an audience of about 150 at the red hot first 2004 meeting of Entrepreneurs for Sustainability at the Great Lakes Brewery on January 20, 2004. Mr. Orr said, "It is not an economic decision," we make for our future. "It is an ethical decision." Orr, author of three books, is soon to release number four. From his E4S presentation it appears to be a hot one: The Last Refuge: The Corruption of Patriotism and Environment in the Age of Terror.

"The future is not that long term folks," Orr said. "2050 will be here before we know it." His targets for change and how to achieve it are focused. "The U.S. doesn't have an urban policy. With a continuation of the present U.S. administration we are not likely to gain an urban policy soon." Unlike the U.S. most industrialized urban nations have niceties such as effective long term planning for their limited resources. "It (change) will not come from top down," orr said. "Change will come from the grass roots up. Meet regularly and build an effective network of local sustainability organizations and their supporting businesses."

"We are in an abnormal rate of growth," said Orr. "The end of the oil economy is coming. We are not going back." He presented a short set of guidelines for progressive and potentially profitable change for the strivers out there. "Energy efficiency is hand-in-glove with renewable energy practices. (There is a future in) distributive energy generation technology."

If you are an entrepreneur looking for a future, please heed some or all of the following points: 1) Energy generation changing from carbon to hydrogen. 2) Protect natural capital, (green areas, etc.) 3) Balancing the capital/labor ratio in control of means of production. 4) Changing of the concept of growth from quantity based to quality based and 5) Change from taxing work to taxing waste." Orr went on to tell of lots the ins and outs to the enterprise intensive sustainability applied to many industries. And, at one point, Orr's appreciation for President George W. Bush shown through. "George Bush wants to go to Mars. I hope he does." From Cool Cleveland reader Lee Batdroff bat@adva.com (:divend:)