Alex Steffen: The Seattle Talks

Sustainability expert Alex Steffen of Worldchanging gave a two-night presentation in Seattle just before heading off to the Copenhagen climate summit. In the talks, he laid out exactly where we came from as a society and where we’re headed. According to Steffen, we’re pretty much toast unless we immediately begin rebuilding our cities. He calls out the lesser steps towards sustainability (electric cars, CFLs, etc) as insufficient distractions and instead focuses on urban living as a crucial element to maintaining a livable civilization. Denser, more walkable, and more fun!

In his talks, Steffen challenged Seattle to become North America’s first carbon-neutral city by 2030, saying nothing less is good enough. Putting things in those terms immediately raises a number of questions… What would a carbon neutral city look like? What role do designers have in making that happen? What might a campaign look like to achieve such a thing?

Listening to Steffen speak is truly enlightening. I highly recommend that you begin watching The Seattle Talks immediately. As if your future depends on it.