So says the Worldwatch Institute. Along with thousands of others, no doubt, NAEE received the following message (and request) from the Institute:
Hello,The world has a crisis of monumental proportions: the modern societies that we love so much are overtaxing the finite resources of our planet at a level that cannot be sustained through this century. While maintaining a level of comfort and prosperity our challenge is to recreate society so it functions in balance with the finite resources of our planet and also sustains the health of the biosphere upon which all life depends.Today’s youth have passion and energy. Help us direct their energy to the task of remaking the world into a model of sustainable lifestyles. It will take all of us to bring about the sustainable world of tomorrow. Help us inspire a tidal wave of young talent and leadership to dedicate their careers to this challengeWorldwatch is undertaking a project to inspire college students to seek careers in the exciting new fields of sustainability across many sectors. Worldwatch is aggregating the best thinking from across scores of other think tanks, research and professional organizations. This material will be made available to faculty to customize their curricula and to students to support research projects. This ambitious project will also link students with study, internship and job opportunities across many fields to help them explore their passions and hone their studies towards exciting careers in the field of sustainabilityHelp us in this effort by giving generously to this project through this spring campaign. The first $50,000 raised in this campaign will be matched dollar for dollarby a generous donor who wants to encourage your support. Please give generously.
We wish this well, of course, although we’ll be spending our scarce cash in the UK, not the USA, including that from generous donors to the Association.
We do have a slight issue with the title of the appeal: “A beautiful tomorrow is in the hands of today’s youth” with its implication that it’s young people in school and college who will need to step up and solve the issues. Isn’t it more the case that the state of tomorrow will be determined by those currently with their hands on the levers of power and on capital resources?
Education has always been a slow burn; an investment (over 15 years or so) whose benefits (and dis-benefits) are then realised over an even greater timescale. The Worldwatch Institute surely knows that, but headline writers do tend to get carried away …