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An Unlikely Perspective Regarding "The Green Revolution"

2008-11-07T07:51:00.007-05:00

Below is an answer I wrote to Thomas L. Friedman on www.linkedin.com on 11/6/08, in response to his question "Will the financial crisis be the end of green, or could green be the way to end the economic crisis?".

Mr. Friedman is a New York Times columnist, and author of the National Bestseller "Hot, Flat, and Crowded".

Out of respect to Mr. Friedman and Linkedin members, I am only posting my response here. If you are a www.linkedin.com member, you can log into the site, and do an answer search to view the full discussion.

Answer Below:

Mr. Friedman--

Next to Al Gore, and now Barack Obama, you are now the most influential voice on the green revolution. Please accept this as a high compliment. Recently I've written about you in this capacity on another Linkedin answer, which can be easily referenced.

Beyond Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" there are two key books on the market now that talk about America taking the lead, driving the green revolution into the 21st century. One is Newt Gingrich's book "A Contract With The Earth, and the second book is your title, "Hot, Flat and Crowded". When I see something mentioned twice by people I respect, I see a pattern. When I see it three or more times, it's a developing trend.

I understand the economics of the times, but am puzzled that after all this debate since 2006 over global warming, after the Supreme Court ruling in favor of the EPA in April 2007, and Al Gore winning the Nobel Prize last year (shared with the IPCC), the notion that green would just disappear as a victim of the times, kind of blows my mind.

Yet if by chance, "eco-green" does fade with the times, so be it. But I just don't see it going away that easily. Maybe I am wrong. But I see the topic will keep coming back, even 25 years from now. Besides, with a rising China, and India, seriously, what else (at this moment in time) do we have on the horizon to drive America to maintain a 21st century global lead? I for one am counting on the "green revolution" to help America step up to the plate and be great again. If not just to combat global warming, but pollution, illegal dumping, the food we eat, deforestation, and many other ecological concerns.

In the for what it's worth department, I was a fan of Michael Crichton, and was sorry to see him pass away this week. But as an unlikely environmental devotee, Mr. Crichton became for me, the skeptical voice to keep the climate change discussion balanced. Maybe I read into this more then I should, but on the same day Barack Obama came into power, Michael Crichton, who was arguably the most famous global warming hype skeptic passed away. The moment I heard the news, I didn't think about Jurassic Park, or ER. I thought about pages 625 to 630 of his 2004 bestseller, "State of Fear", where Mr. Crichton states on page (627): "The current near-hysterical preoccupation with safety is at best a waste of resources and a crimp on the human spirit, and at worst an invitation to totalitarianism. Public education is needed."

My point in stating this, is when I think of the oncoming green revolution, these are the words that ring most to me that I want people to consider before we revolutionize our world, for all the wrong reasons. We all know there are many environmental problems, and to what extent is debatable, but if we are going to transform our society and world through a green revolution, my hope is we do it in a competitively good spirit, without the need for some kind of police state forcing people to be eco-minded, or jailing someone if they didn't recycle on time.

Let us remember why we are all here even having this discussion. Since 2006, global warming has been billed as the greatest man-made oncoming disaster in the history of civilization. We're talking about a problem that won't even (if it does) get catastrophic until 2050 to 2100, and this is if ice caps and glaciers melt, resulting in oceans rising, destabilizing over 500 million (estimated) people, thus creating global chaos, etc.

So unless Mr. Obama veers away from his environmental campaign stance, I am expecting the environment to become a big issue in the coming months/years. One only needs to take a look at Obama's Environment Fact Sheet (see link below) to see where his priority lies by driving America as a leader in taking on climate change, with the goal of cutting carbon emissions 80% by 2050.

Thank you for asking this question sir.

Sincerely,

Scott M. Iseman

A Comment (Open Letter) To Social Media Leaders - Full Text

2008-10-13T09:57:00.002-04:00

Here is a comment I posted on Friendfeed. http://friendfeed.com/e/9522116d-adfe-6ded-a4bb-4f4f977ab93a/The-war-against-despair-is-up-to-you-new

Hi--

I took some weekend interest in this discussion and many of your comments. First. I think the spirit of your discussion is right on, I just feel the social media movement hasn't quite figured out how to build the bridge to the next era that transcends the education factor and mass utilization barrier.

Whether the U.S. economy really tanks, or not is yet to be seen, but social media is here, the time is now, and the medium is a powerful tool to connect the world, businesses, ideas, etc. Right now, social media is operating on lot of hype, word of mouth and mass experimentation. Some or more of you are the social media elders (pioneers) and Twitter and blogging rock stars.

This movement is your baby, and your vision has blossomed into an exciting New Media movement (as Mr. Scoble calls it, and I like that term) where it is now in position to create it's own destiny. While you built it (and thank you for an amazing contribution and all the passion and energy you put into it), new people and energy (like me) are coming into place to "help" take it to a new level.

The credibility factor of social/new media is interesting, because social media allows for the masses to contribute to this vehicle, thus opening the door to potential credibility hits.

One area where social media/new media does not yet excel is in how it compliments or rises above with the mainstream media. Once this hurdle is overcome, opportunities are limitless, and the oyster can be yours. Right now, the mainstream media is pounding the drums of politics, economy and yes, some doom and gloom.

If social media/new media is going reach it's fullest potential, it is time for many of the social media leaders (yes you!) in place to take a step up to the plate and bridge the paradigm. Social media will need to outsmart the media by nurturing dynamic, knowledgeable experts who can offer better, more credible, and quicker perspectives then the media can, especially in a day and age when so much mis-information is quickly spread and blown out of proportion.

It is also time for some of you to become mainstream new media spokespeople to build your case and educate others. Write your books, expand your blog readership and learn how to make mainstream press, while holding your own against the press. I've been in the book and magazine industry for a long time, and even I know if you write a book, and it doesn't sell, all you've really got to show for it is an "author's ego" Just posting a tweet to 30,000 of your followers isn't going to cut it.

Also, as Twitter breaks into the mainstream, we're seeing networks like CNN giving it some recognition. However, I think this is part of the novelty stage. A new medium rises, and the media wants to figure it out. I am seeing both positive and negative press on Twitter, and it reminds me of 10 years ago when the mainstream media attacked and poked at Matt Drudge of the www.drudgereport.com, but most of them secretly (and regularly) visited his page to see what he posted next.

There is a whole world out there for social media/new media (or whatever you want to call it) to influence and inspire. Whether there are soup lines or not isn't relevant, because in your hands is the one component of the future, and your time is now.

Thanks for reading.

Scott

10 Questions With Dirk Benedict - From June 2008

2008-07-11T17:18:00.009-04:00

FYI

UNEDITED: The unedited version of the Ace Marketing Agency interview with Dirk Benedict can be now be found at http://www.dirkbenedictcentral.com/ by clicking this link.

EDITED: My original "edited" interview with Dirk Benedict can be found by clicking this link.