In this episode, our look at the future will include interviews, discussions and writings involving some of the world’s most influential and knowledgeable visionaries on the environment: Biodiversity specialist, Edward O. Wilson; Hunter Lovins of Natural Capitalism Inc.; Lester Brown, founder of Worldwatch Institute; Paul Relis, former director of the State of California Integrated Waste Management Board; David Orr, Chair of the Environmental Studies Department at Oberlin College; Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute and population theorist Paul Ehrlich. The problems of the world we live in today and the potential for a better future will come alive in the positive hopeful light of human ingenuity, intelligence and foresight. Rethinking our economy to increase biodiversity, wilderness and ecological integrity, the visionary insights on sustainability espoused by Brown and others, and the field of ecological psychology as illuminated by David Orr, all provide the basis for hope, creativity and inspiration for the environmental movement. Juxtaposed with our in-depth examination of the past, this segment will give our audience an understanding of how their present day actions will impact the future and inspire confidence at a profound level that the positive choices they make today will indeed enhance the quality of all life on this planet tomorrow.

Of immediate concern in the developing history of the environmental movement is the reality that ecological issues are now more complex and global and are growing more so. No longer is it enough to try and save the environment a little at a time, location by location. The global effects of climate change, runoff pollution, and the implications of biogenetic experimentation have raised the potential risks to all life to a level unheard of in the past. Now more than ever there is a need for clear understanding of the story of our environment. Now more than ever there is a need to understand the past. Only by understanding the conservation and environmental milestones of the past 150 years can we start to cope with the conservation and environmental challenges of the twenty first century. Even more so, only through understanding the stories of those who have gone before us – their ideas, changes in thought, connections to nature, inspirations and passion, can we provide the basis for unified comprehension of the tasks that lay ahead for all people, industry and government.