People say all the time that what we in the U.S. or anywhere to act sustainably doesn't matter if China and Russia don't act too. They say that they pollute so much that even if we don't pollute at all, their pollution is enough to sink us all. Whether it is or not, to say they have to act first abdicates leadership. It says we choose to follow, not lead. For us to lead, we would act first, or at least independently of others, and expect others to follow us. People think we can't lead while setting an example. Sadly,…

Nearly every effort I see for sustainability use methods that don't work, that promote resistance. They don't inspire. They tools like cajoling (“Here are ten little things you can do for the environment”), coercing (“people will suffer if you don’t act”), convincing (“If you value your kids’ future, you should change”), and authority (laws). Such methods imply nobody wants to do the things. You may gain compliance but reinforce the systemic values causing the problem. Nobody promotes Drinkless Driving Tuesdays or Seat Belt Wednesdays. We say never drink and drive because we believe sobriety always benefits everyone behind the wheel.…

I'm not criticizing protesters at COP26. Maybe they'll achieve more than I will, though the meaningful comparison is to what they could achieve optimally. It seems to me that flying to Glasgow to protest polluting is like PETA practicing animal sacrifice to help animals or the Pope worshiping Satan to promote Christianity. I'm not trying to be coy. I think you need to practice the values you promote if you want others to follow. My point isn't about the magnitude of the emissions of their personal flights. It's about their credibility and effectiveness. Again, the relevant question is how effective…

The chart below on the left shows why America can't lead anyone on sustainability. People mistakenly believe America can influence others on sustainability. Why do they think so? Maybe because of our large GDP, military, or population, since they enable us to influence in other areas, but they don't help here. Note our average per capita emissions almost five times the world average, nearly ten times mine, and ten times India's. Remove the U.S. contribution to the world average and we probably pollute close to ten times the rest of the world's average. Among those other nations, many have higher…

Regular readers know I first called my podcast Leadership and the Environment because I saw our response to the environment lacking leadership. As a leadership coach, I'm in touch with many leadership coaches, including some of the most renowned who have been guests on the podcast. Leaders and leadership coaches could play the most important role addressing our environmental problems. Instead, nearly none act. Those who act to so ineffectively, hindered by not trying to act sustainably themselves, so not knowing what changing a lifestyle to sustainability takes or means. To leaders and leadership coaches,Our environmental problems are dominating the…

Part of why I act and try to lead is to develop more effective ways to communicate and motivate. People have developed tremendous skills to dance around sustainability issues. They'll ask for ideas of what they can do. Then they'll respond, "but systems have to change." Then when you talk systemic change, they ask, "But what do I do?". In practice, they dance around five or ten issues where their answers bounce around, dodging answers more than leading to action. "But individual actions don't make a difference . . ." One of the most common topics people dodge personal responsibility…

It's become fashionable, it seems, for old people to say their delight and confidence that the next generation will fix the problems we created. I see them trying to pass the buck to people who can't speak back. I've written before that they're just saying "no me, not now, someone else, some other time." Old people can vote, hold assets, be elected, drive, and so on. Young people can't. Waiting for them to acquire tools of power and use them while we don't will take too long. We can fix the problems we created. Not wait for them. If we…

First, I support people who choose to work through government to stop our degrading Earth's ability to sustain life. I believe they can achieve a lot. I want to get them votes. But I see other ways to lead that others aren't doing where I can affect more. When I concluded the most important missing action on sustainability was leadership about a decade ago, I considered running for office. We often call our elected officials leaders, though few lead by my definition. My role models who changed cultures, like Mandela, King, Gandhi, Buddha, Jesus, Laozi, and their peers, started outside…

Isn't a refrigerator essential? Isn't life with them better? I thought so. I'll quote my mom from my podcast to illustrate where I came from: I grew up where it was easily ninety degrees every single day. In fact, where I worked, the store if it got ninety degrees outside we got to close the store and go home because it was that unsafe. To me, air conditioning was wonderful. And to my mom and my grandmother, not having to use ice box refrigerators was great. I really appreciate all of that today and I understand that we've gone overboard…