646: Noah Gallagher Shannon, part 1: Uruguay is an environmental role model

I see our environmental problems and lack of effective solutions as a failure of imagination, as regular listeners of this podcast and readers of my blog know. If we can't imagine a world without pollution, we won't try. We'll resist and push back, which we do. Would-be leaders pollute as much as nearly anyone alive, more than nearly anyone who has ever lived, then say government should force them to change.

Role models would help. Part of why I unplug my apartment from the electric grid and continue my process of continual improvement is to show people what's possible since nearly no one else is.

Then imagine my pleasant surprise on reading an article in the New York Times, What Does Sustainable Living Look Like? Maybe Like Uruguay, that describes a whole nation moving ahead of the rest, led by a President also moving ahead of the rest. Role models!

Noah Gallagher Shannon wrote the piece, met with the President and others in government as well as many people there. I recommend reading the article.

Noah and I got so caught up in the conversation, I split it into two pieces. This one starts covering Noah, his profession, what he writes about, and writing this piece. He also talks about his personal motivation in his quest to live more sustainably and the challenge of finding effective leadership. Then we talk about Uruguayan life and culture, the difference between theirs and ours, and how shocked they are about ours.

• The New York Times article that led me to Noah and learning about Uruguay, their work, and their leadership: What Does Sustainable Living Look Like? Maybe Like Uruguay: No greater challenge faces humanity than reducing emissions without backsliding into preindustrial poverty. One tiny country is leading the way.

The second part is episode 651.

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