Blade Runner opens up with street scenes in old LA where at ground level smog and constant drizzle create a hellish vision of a future where those on the literal bottom of society live in an environmental purgatory. When Deckard take flight to visit the offices of the CEO of the android factory he is lifted above this constant cloud into a sunlit aerie of penthouse offices and apartments above huge pyramidal arcologies. This striking contrast was director Ridley Scott’s 1980 vision of a not too distant future. Today in 2007 that future is now:
- The NYTimes has an extensive feature on the vast and permanent smog and pollution in China including this horrifying slide show.
- Only 1 in 500 Chinese has access to clean drinking water
- Greece has lost 50 people to forest fires and declared a national emergency
- Flooding in the midwestern has claimed more than 50 lives with no end in site
- The deaths of miners and rescue workers in Utah due to dangerous mining practices driven by greed and high prices for coal eclipses the story of over 200 miners dying in China at the same time

This is just a sampling of the weather and environmental disasters in place, right now worldwide, yet we still argue about causes and blame. Those arguments are fueled by the vast denial matrix created and funded by energy cartels who, because they are the most advanced practitioners of scenario planning, know the horrifying truth about what we’ve done to this planet already.
Is there a positive story to counter this? Not yet. Barring some amazing breakthrough in cheap, clean and scalable energy production, this feedback loop will accelerate.

This trailer is a compelling brief look at a film that may eclipse An Inconvenient Truth in relevance right now. I am not a celebrity cause fan but by all reviews de Caprio has made a very important film that is frightening, provocative and relentlessly positive in its belief that we can change the world for the better. I can’t wait to see it.

It is hot here today and the weather across the planet is alarmingly extreme- NYC subways flooded, my friend told me today she had to walk 20 blocks to work this morning in stifling humidity and heat- no cabs available.

WSJ has an article (behind the paid wall) about how people have started buying summer homes in Newfoundland: Oceanfront average house goes for $40k, average temps up 4 degrees F, 123 days with average temps of 77F. They’re marketing to Brits because it’s faster to fly there from london than it takes to get to similar coastal properties in the UK and Ireland- similar summer climate.

I’ve been up there- it is a long way from everything! Nice in a barren Atlantic storm-beaten way.

Update: The first tornado ever recorded in the NYC area hit Brooklyn yesterday.

In today’s NYTimes business section there is an article about a very unusual product and business decision made by America’s brand marketing giant, P&G. It seems that for several years they’ve had a product branded under their PUR water purification brand that is a powder that can purify water in the field. It has not been marketed in the US until now. Instead they attempted to sell it in third world countries. When it became obvious that it would not be profitable they did something incredibly unique and forward-thinking: They built a plant in Pakistan to make the product very cheaply. Then they distributed the packets for pennies. A local village market can sell them for a dime and make 5 cents. Each purifies 10 kilos of water. P&G formed a not for profit organization internally to help provide pure water for children globally. This was a big hit within the huge company.
Now they have arranged for US sales via a much smaller company called Reliance that sells into outdoor sports and survival markets including disaster recovery. This is where it gets interesting. They are not out to make a profit on US sales. All P&G proceeds from Reliance (an independent distributor) will be donated to the Children’s Safe Drinking Water program, a not for profit agency.
While there are questions about charging US disaster victims more for this than 3rd world countries, overall it is a great concept. I would hope the major Pharma companies who won’t design drugs for poor markets will take a look at this model. The fact is that climate change and its affects are global- we’re all in this together.
Kudos to Proctor and Gamble.