The Myth of “Environmental Sustainability” | Justin Mog | TEDxUofL

It may be that we live in an age of hyper-connectivity and “big data,” but I contend that the fundamental reason why we’ve managed to construct the most highly unsustainable culture the Earth has ever seen is precisely because we have not been taught to see the connections.

Justin Mog is assistant to the provost for sustainability initiatives, a post created in 2009 to coordinate efforts to advance environmental, social and economic responsibility at the University of Louisville. Dr. Mog served with the Peace Corps in Paraguay for three years before coming to UofL in 2009. He also has worked as an environmental educator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and has conducted research on sustainable rural development as a Fulbright Scholar in the Philippines.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Param Jaggi echoes Steve Jobs’ philosophy that people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. Jaggi is known for building Algae Mobile, a device that converts carbon dioxide emitted from a car into oxygen. Made possible by Nissan Leaf.

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24 thoughts on “The Myth of “Environmental Sustainability” | Justin Mog | TEDxUofL”

  1. have i not paid attention for five minutes or did i really just see a talk on sustainability that does not even mention the meat and dairy production?

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  2. OK Earth First. Pagan. The issue is humanity not earth. We can get another planet. There will never be another humanity. Mother Earth is a pagan concept. We have been living below our means. All progress has been blocked by nuts like you. You really insult our intelligence.

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  3. Why is it always bottled water singled out? What about bottled soft drinks? If you selectively eliminate bottled water, it forces thirsty people to drink coloured sugared water that is even less beneficial for the planet, and themselves. What if we eliminate disposable bottles, and put a one dollar deposit on the reusable glass bottle, or aluminum can that replaces them.

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  4. This guy is just appealing to the sexually repressed moma boys and closet homos. He's targeting people with a similar psychological profile as evangelical Christians who believe the world needs saving. The same applies to Ufologists and Scientologists. This is why sustainability believers talk like Scientologists and use jargon like "saving the planet", rather than using the correct English term "saving the world".

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  5. That chart suggests land devoted to grazing is well-below the "overshoot" threshold and has remained constant. Doesn't make sense considering land being cleared for cattle-ranching is still one of the leading causes of deforestation.

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  6. One of the biggest (literally) signs of mainstream environmental failure is the delusion that inefficient, landscape-trashing wind turbines are saving the planet. From what, nice scenery? I don't want to live in a pinwheel junkyard.

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  7. Composting also creates methane, you're just doing it in a thousands little spots instead of 1 big on (where the methane 'could' be collected and used although it may not be now.

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  8. World War III needs to kick off soon. Then, humanity will be balanced out. No one is changing their habits anytime soon.

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  9. I live in a building where nobody does recycling, the recycling bins are always empty and the that one for the rubbish is always full.
    We live in a world were nobody cares for the future, I think it time to give up, live own life and let the future be what it is going to be. I'm gonna stop doing recycling too, it's just not worthy and I feel a stupid sorting rubbish.

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  10. But do the algae get light? Don't they get covered in exhaustion particles? Those algae must be saturated at some point since well, they aren't extremely fast in relation to the amount of CO2 coming out afaittk. Gimme some facts guys, please

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  11. It sounds nice and all, but there are absolutely no numbers. The 10-20% figure is very nebulous. Hard data on emissions before and after the device are a minimum to overcome initial skepticism. Given that website for Param Jaggi's company, Ecoviate.com, says that they've shut down. I suspect that it simply did not create enough of a difference or other problems prevented the device from ever going from a prototype.

    Reply

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