Silence of the Frogs and The Ecology of Commerce

“There is no polite way to say that business is destroying the world.”

– Paul Hawken, The Ecology of Commerce

Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, author and advocate for sustainable businesses worldwide.  His books and companies have persuaded businesses to see the efficiency and productivity of environmentally harmonious practices.  After seeing this video clip from his recent speech at the 2008 Pachamama Conference, I am convinced – and Hawken makes my “Inspiring People” list.

Hawken speaks with the same sense of urgency as Al Gore, and is working as diligently to explain to people what is happening with our environment and motivate action.  I have only read part of The Ecology of Commerce, which is motivating me to move it higher up on my (very long) reading list!  The book proposes a collaborative approach to solving the climate crisis which is causing the extinction of frogs and thousands of other life forms from our planet.  I’ll close with a short passage from the book, which should be heeded by politicians and business owners worldwide (including myself) –

“In order for free-market capitalism to transform itself in the century to come, it must fully acknowledge that the brilliant monuments of its triumph cast the darkest of shadows.  Whatever possibilities business once represented, whatever dreams and glories corporate success once offered, the time has come to acknowlege that business as we know it is over.  Over because it failed in one critical and thoughtless way: It did not honor the myriad forms of life that secure and connect its own breath and skin and heart to the breath and skin and heart of our earth.”