Tuesday night I spoke to the Dallas area Sierra Club about highway tear-outs, particularly 345 in downtown Dallas. As per usual, I customized the presentation to the audience, the majority of which was preamble background detailing reasons why and what led us to even thinking about highway tear-outs. You can see that embedded below.
Perhaps most interestingly though was the connection between my broader message and something the 2nd speaker, a local ornothologist said. Speaking about the mosquito problem in Dallas, she stated that “all animals seek to maximize nutrition while minimizing energy to do so.”
In my presentation, I spoke about how the 20th century economy falsely equated resource consumption as a form of economic development and a symbol of wealth. Meanwhile, the 21st century economy and the cleaner, greener cities that will lead the way see resource consumption as a waste and a barrier to further wealth creation. Real money is smart money. No need for the flash. That’s for the posers. Leave that to the Chinese who wrongly see car ownership and road building as a form of wealth creation rather than a wasteful response to the aggregation of wealth. Maximize value while minimizing cost/energy. Same thing. To know cities, study ecology.
