Sustainability in New Jersey
matthew polsky

Latest writings, Others' very important writings, Upcoming forum

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Latest writings, Others' very important writings, Upcoming forum 1 message matthew polsky Wed, Feb 13, 2013 at 3:35 AM To: 'koann@sustainablelifemedia.com' , 'anthony.haynor@shu.edu' , 'JHarmon444@aol.com' , 'gfarias@fdu.edu' , 'jwirtenberg@optonline.net' , 'jcloud@fdu.edu' , 'kent@fdu.edu' , 'wgrussell@prodigy.net' , 'nsmithse@kean.edu' , 'ebangood@bard.edu' , 'anna@earthpeopleco.com' , 'dawn@creativeeconomyenterprises.com' , 'claire@kayakmedia.com' , 'dtwomey@fdu.edu' , 'suscurry@comcast.net' , 'mcohen@adm.njit.edu' , 'allyson.salisbury@gmail.com' , 'jem.bendell@cumbria.ac.uk' , 'harriet@climatemama.com' , 'drdwheeler@optonline.net' , 'dabrowsi@stjohns.edu' , 'ira@greentrack.com' , 'purdy.irene@epamail.epa.gov' , 'jmz4@nyu.edu' , 'kathrin.winkler@emc.com' , 'medelste@ramapo.edu' , 'revfharper@greenfaith.org' , 'stan.kaczmarek@us.bureauveritas.com' , 'daronson@raritanval.edu' , 'rhoda.schermer@verizon.net' , 'vzelin@gmail.com' , 'vasishth@ramapo.edu' , 'anthony@ecologicalgroup.com' , 'bwalmer@limnarchitects.com' , 'lfurman97@gmail.com' , 'lmalizzi@matrixneworld.com' , 'steven.wilding@ethicalcorp.com' , 'athena.sarafides@dep.state.nj.us' , 'knute.jensen@dep.state.nj.us' , 'jerri.weigand@dep.state.nj.us' , 'barry.dambach@alcatel-lucent.com' , 'waynetusa@aol.com' , 'robert.benjamin@greenwords.net' , 'blarkey1@msn.com' , 'jrobinson@business.rutgers.edu' , 'jason.chen520@gmail.com' , 'Stephen.Rijo@Gmail.com' , 'dabrown57@gmail.com' , 'john@eanj.org' , 'kashmanian.richard@epamail.epa.gov' , 'ed@advancedproducts.com' , 'schoepf.walter@epamail.epa.gov' , 'globallearningnj@comcast.net' , 'kimmlatham@gmail.com' , 'jordan.garfinkle@gmail.com' , 'gstavish@gmail.com' , 'grayrussell07043@yahoo.com' , 'mitchell.erickson@hq.dhs.gov' , 'hsimmens@aol.com' , 'ljmcgeorge@gmail.com' , 'mmcelroy@vermontel.net' , 'nschneider2015@yahoo.com' , 'nstanlick@nj-green.org' , 'neillwendyl@gmail.com' , 'tdeas@scbp.org' , 'williamohearn@optonline.net' , 'jeffrey.potent@att.net' , 'solomonr@tcnj.edu' , 'marisa_slaten@yahoo.com' , 'gail.yazersky@dot.state.nj.us' , 'wkhayes@gmail.com' , 'jerseymary1@verizon.net' , 'jspolsky@gmail.com' , 'rosemary@copyrose.com' , 'mfischhoff@nbs.net' , 'sylvia@sustainablehighlandsnj.org' , 'ibibars@ashoka.org' , Oliver Senft , 'laura@knipmeyer.net' , 'debbie.lawlor@njmeadowlands.gov' , 'tmohapatra@gmail.com' , 'robfish@gmail.com' , '(barbour@rce.rutgers.edu)' , 'dpeifer@anjec.org' , 'dport@dca.state.nj.us' , 'aucott@verizon.net' , 'gminkoff@njheps.org' , 'csrinsighttues@gmail.com' , Shira Markoff , 'renee@thecitizenscampaign.com' , 'jaime.ewalt@dep.state.nj.us' , Caitlin Harmon , 'gjones@fdu.edu' , 'jorge.reyes@dep.state.nj.us' , 'jaimie@cloudinstitute.org' , Jon Plaut , 'laura@njconservation.org' , 'loh208@lehigh.edu' , 'martin.rosen@dep.state.nj.us' , 'marian.glenn@shu.edu' , 'jbullis@merrillcreek.com' , '(smchivukula@njleg.org)' , '(pamgfrank@verizon.net)' , 'bdgold@pitt.edu' , 't.keating@rainforestrelief.org' , 'joolybooly@juno.com' , 'peterbnyc@gmail.com' , 'rdombrowski@sbinj.org' , 'minkg@aol.com' , 'mweinstein_fishguy@verizon.net' , 'chess_c@aesop.rutgers.edu' , 'cmeyer@greenbridgeeducation.com' , 'frp713@gmail.com' , 'domalley@environmentnewjersey.org' , 'cmosier@njleg.org' , 'aro34@optonline.net' , '(faith.taylor@wyndhamworldwide.com)' , 'michael@conservationresources.org' , 'twells@aol.com' , 'bryanthomlison@gmail.com' , 'tanya.oznowich@dep.state.nj.us' , '(prv@carbon-key.com)' , '(jkliwinski@spiezle.com)' , 'myswansong@embarqmail.com' , 'andrew.willner@gmail.com' , 'albe@terracycle.net' , 'kwilliams@femworksllc.com' , 'rcharles@rennergyllc.com' , 'kmiller@anjec.org' , 'amacdona@monmouth.edu' , 'katie.barnett@dep.state.nj.us' , 'bakelly2000@gmail.com' , 'bakelly2000@comcast.net' , 'sjandoli25@hotmail.com'

To those I’ve met through this long sustainability journey:

I offer this as a sustainability change-agent. Most, but not all, of the below emphasizes the “green economy” idea, focused on New Jersey but not limited to here. To that aim, these typically bring new ideas for consideration and often challenge conventional thinking.

I hope if you find the time, these prove interesting and helpful to your work.

As always, comments are welcome, either just to me or, if you believe useful, to the group.

As before, please let me know if you’d rather not receive these, or prefer to be blind copied.

My Recent Writings

. 3 measurement pitfalls the sustainability world should avoid. With Claire Sommer. (This is Part II of our series on pitfalls.) GreenBiz.com.
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2013/01/25/3-measurement-pitfalls-sustainability-world-should-avoid.

. Why Can’t We Leave Al Gore Alone? EarthPeople.
http://www.earthpeopleco.com/blog/2013/02/04/53-why-cant-we-leave-al-gore-alone.

By this final version, I had evolved beyond defending Al Gore to issuing a plea to the sustainability community to better live up to its often-expressed “community” values.

. So Why Aren’t There More Ray Andersons? (This is also part III of “Why we need the ‘S-word.”) GreenBiz.com. This will be out next Wednesday, Feb. 20. I don’t know the URL yet, but you should be able to find it off of http://www.greenbiz.com that day, or through

http://www.greenbiz.com/bio/matt-polsky

There could be no better model for a green economy than tapping into the legacy of Ray. So what is stopping us?

(Larry and Dawn: you’re mentioned here unless it gets edited out.)

. I was thinking some recent informal comments I sent to people on a few subjects might be useful to some of you. I’d have to edit, sometimes heavily, excerpts from some of them depending on their original context. (Some of you also contributed to these dialogues, and I would ask your permission before sending these as that was not the original understanding.) Let me know if you want any of these: (1) Are we reaching a new, centralized understanding on shore rebuilding; (2) Economics versus moral incentives; (3) So are we over the hump now on accepting, and dealing with, global warming; (4) Should think tanks practice advocacy; (5) the relationship between politics and science; (6) modest progress in the convergence of thinking about urban areas, sustainability, and business; (7) New Jersey’s historical ups & downs when it comes to sustainability; (8) how to describe when incremental progress is acceptable; & (9) colleges’ contributions to sustainability have to be more than just better buildings and operations.

Very Recent Key Publications By Others

I can’t emphasize how important these first two below are, both first time efforts to research or address badly needed areas.

. First Annual Survey of New Jersey Business Sustainability. Joel Harmon & Kent Fairfield. Institute for Sustainable Enterprise & Public Mind, Fairleigh Dickinson University.
http://staging.fdu.edu/files/isesurveyofnjbus.sustainability.pdf.

. The Agenda 21 Controversy and Your Town, A Fact-Based Tool Kit for Town Leaders & Concerned Citizens. Claire Sommer. North Jersey Public Policy Network.
http://www.northjerseypublicpolicy.org/uploads/Agenda21ControversyToolkitFinal2.pdf.

This is a response to the Tea Party’s attack on sustainability, which they’ve recently decided to emphasize. It was distributed for the first time Monday night to a town trying to fend off such an attack.

. Laying a Foundation for Sustainable Growth in New Jersey in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy. Jonathan Cloud & Victoria Zelin. Center for Regenerative Community Solutions.
http://deadriverjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/LayingFoundation4SustainableGrowthinNJ30Dec2012-2col.pdf.

This is a slightly revised version of what I sent out last month.

. Rebuilding New Jersey Shore Communities in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy. Jonathan Cloud & Victoria Zelin. Center for Regenerative Community Solutions.
http://deadriverjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/RegeneratingNewJerseyShoreCommunitiesJan2013r.pdf

. The Enlightenment’s ‘Race’ Problem, and Ours. Justin Smith. The New York Times.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/why-has-race-survived/?hp.

Perhaps off-topic, but I’ve included it because it may provide insight on conventionally defined categories, which the field of sustainability by its nature gradually challenge, but may accept as given more than it should. This is by far the best discussion I’ve seen of whether the very widely accepted concept of “race” actually scientifically exists; or whether it is a social construction, albeit arguably a useful one.

. Money changes everything, Adam Davidson, The New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/magazine/money-changes-everything.html

An update on the money: happiness equation.

Upcoming Forum

. The above-FDU report will be presented on Feb. 20 by Joel and Kent in Madison, NJ. Athena Sarafides & I will be discussants.
http://view.fdu.edu/files/feb13brkflyer.pdf

You can stop here, or if you’re willing to go totally off-topic

. Since not everything has to be so serious, my wife, Sandy, was a published humor columnist for a few years for the local newspaper, writing “But It Makes Sense to Me!” She’s recently re-started writing, usually on some misadventure she’s gotten into, often initiated by trying to do a good deed (Confirming the adage: “No good deed goes unpunished.”) Until she finds a new publishing outlet, the new ones are available by contacting her (sandypolsky05@gmail.com). These are “Pungent,” about what can happen when you agree to be responsible for your son’s car while he’s away in Australia for 6 months--and forget to occasionally start the engine; “Drama…Documented,” about the first of several disasters we encountered visiting him in Australia (hint: it’s best to get a visa); and “Sleeping with Mom,” about agreeing to go back home to live with your mother for a few days while your step-father is in the hospital.

I’m hoping she’ll get the bug to write: “Good cop: bad cop” about her less-than-pleasant conversation with the local civil servants while driving the above-license plateless car to the DMV (to get plates); “What could go wrong,” about the downside of taking up extreme couponing; or “Accidentally stepping on a kangaroo’s foot.” I don’t think the latter was very happy about it, or her excuse: “Well, she has big feet!”

Some of her older, already published ones, are about misadventures in trying to be greener.

Matt