Energy Laundering and the American Way of Life

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The United States has used more fossil hydrocarbons and carbon than any other country in history. The American way of life, from a biophysical perspective, this is largely due to the special geology and seniority we get from the US dollar being the global reserve currency. We have not been efficient on soil degradation, natural resource conservation, ecosystem protection, and we certainly haven't been efficient on resilience.

For this year’s Earth Day presentation, I highlight common terms in the English language - the meanings of which we've come to take for granted. These words semantically imbue our understanding, perspective, and even behavior but have become untethered from the systemic reality they attempt to describe. Words have power. What we call things and how we describe things matters.

This presentation is recommended to be viewed on Youtube with the accompanying visuals, but can still be listened to and understood in audio-only form.

Thanks to my team - Leslie Batt-Lutz, Lizzy Sirianni, Luke Robert Mason, and Jason Figueredo for putting this together. Also thanks (as always) to my friend DJ White for helpful input. Thanks to Joan Diamond, Kyle Saunders, Maia Nillson, Rex Weyler for helpful input.