The environmental movement has become “personal” — with people able to participate in their own way — environmental advocate Alexandra Cousteau said at the first Aspen Environment Forum.
“People are learning about what they can do as individuals,” said Cousteau, granddaughter of scuba pioneer Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
The concern over climate change — with its focus on monitoring greenhouse-gas generation — allows a single person greater control over environmental actions, she said.
“We have a choice to drive hybrid cars. We have the choice to invest in alternative energies,” she said. “We have the choice to make different decisions, and the products and services and goods are there for us to seize upon them.”
The conference — which wraps up this weekend — is part of Aspen’s effort to become the bellwether of the green universe.
The forum sponsored by the Aspen Institute drew big names, from Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson and local alternative-energy guru Amory Lovins, to business executives like Elizabeth Lowery, who is General Motors’ vice president for environment and energy.
“This is not just a conference,” said David Monsma, executive director of the energy and environment program for the Aspen Institute. “It’s a forum. It’s a convocation.”
The discussions, Monsma said, ranged from sustainability in business to how American Indians relate to the environment.
Wilson — winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for his writing on science and the National Science Medal for work in entomology — cautioned that climate change is likely to result in catastrophic habitat loss for many of the planet’s species.
“When I say I’m optimistic, I know I tend to be in the minority,” he said.
“It’s really with the understanding that a lot of damage is going to be done, no matter what we do,” Wilson said. “But we can certainly lessen the impact greatly due to climate change by taking fast action now.”
“It’s becoming obvious to more and more people that the scale of that change is enormous, and I think we’re starting to understand that as part of our daily lives,” Monsma said.
