Guest speaker, Mitch Rhodes

 http://www.lpcoaching.ca/blog/leadership/robert-kennedy-jr-in-whistler/

He’s a savvy businessman and a compassionate human-being.

I must admit that I was slightly skeptical about hearing Robert Kennedy Jr. (RKJ) speak on Wednesday night as I headed up to Whistler. Perhaps it had been a while since I had listened to someone of that stature impart their knowledge to the masses. I thought that I might find it a bit reminiscent of all the other enviro-heroes that I have heard in the past. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy getting inspired to clean up the world, these days I have been looking for something different, something that brings it altogether.

Well, I am pleased to report that I found that different something on Wednesday with another 750 people who gathered in Whistler to hear RKJ at AWARE’s (Associations of Whistler Area Residents for the Environment) 20th anniversary.

In fact, I was completely blown away by the breadth and depth of RKJ’s knowledge. He spoke of the greatest environmental challenges in Canada as well as the US, focusing on air and water quality. We learned how much of the polluters are supported by our governments. He had a slightly Michael Moore-esque way of highlighting the behind-closed doors agreements between the powers that be and the industry lobbyists – the agreements that eradicate laws in place to protect the public and that ultimately erode our democracy. The list was long.

But it wasn’t the typical doomsday rant that can leave us depressed and wondering why to bother. RKJ had solutions and real life examples of what he is personally working on to make the changes that can happen, actually happen. For example he is involved with a company called BrightSource Energy that is installing nation-wide infrastructure in Israel to replace every single combustion engine car with an electric one. The project will be completed in 3 years. He pointed out that with the money currently used to subsidize the oil and gas industry in the US, it wouldn’t take long to create clean energy infrastructure in the US as well – one that would completely erase their dependency on Middle Eastern Oil. Point well taken!

RKJ came from a wealthy affluent family and yet he understands suffering in ways most of us have not. His father was assassinated when he was 14 and he has children who suffer severely from asthma, a disease triggered by environmental stimulants – in other words pollution.

What amazes me the most about RKJ is that he gets it! He paints a holistic view of the environment that includes business, health, outdoor activities, family and spirituality. His vision is one that directly supports making good decisions for all. He believes that the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment which makes sense if we are going to continue to use the resources on this earth to survive. He also believes that there are smart solutions within our means to create the win-win situation that we seem to be so close to getting but remain afraid of reaching as a whole.

What drives him? He realizes that he and the rest of us are doing all of this for our own prosperity. We are not just trying to save the birds and the trees. We are also trying to preserve our own quality of life and our children’s.

How perfect…

It makes me think if we were all that purposeful, that ethical, caring and fearless, we could all be a superstar and make a difference in our own kind of way.