October 2, 2001
Contact:
Sarah Ray
802-443-5794
sray@middlebury.edu
Posted: October 2, 2001
“The next
industrial revolution will be a response to changing
patterns of scarcity.”
—-Amory Lovins, co-author of “Natural
Capitalism”
MIDDLEBURY,
VT - Author and consultant Amory Lovins will give a talk
about his book “Natural Capitalism” at 12 p.m. on Monday,
Oct. 15 at Middlebury College. The lecture, which will focus
on the emergence of new business practices in the face of
diminishing natural resources, will take place in Sunderland
Language Centers Dana Auditorium on College Street
(Route 125). A light lunch will be provided. Both the talk
and the lunch are free.
In 1982,
Lovins co-founded the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), where
he is currently the chief executive officer and treasurer.
RMI is an entrepreneurial, nonprofit organization that works
with businesses, communities, individuals and governments to
boost profits and competitiveness by increasing the
efficient use of natural resources.
According to
“Natural Capitalism,” which Lovins co-authored with L.
Hunter Lovins and Paul Hawken, leading-edge companies are
practicing a new type of industrialism that is more
efficient and profitable while saving the environment and
creating jobs. The authors predict that in the next century,
cars will get 200 miles per gallon without compromising
safety and power, manufacturers will relentlessly recycle
their products, and the worlds standard of living will
jump without further damaging natural resources.
Lovins and
his co-authors call their approach natural capitalism
because it is based on the principle that business can be
good for the environment. For instance, the Atlanta,
Ga.-based company Interface doubled revenues and employment,
and tripled profits by creating an
environmentally
friendly system of recycling floor coverings for businesses.
He will also
discuss the failure of many current business practices to
take into account the value of these assetswhich is
rising with their depletion. As a result, natural capital is
being degraded and liquidated by the wasteful use of
resources such as energy, materials, water, fiber
and topsoil.
Lovins talk will include suggestions about how institutions
such as Middlebury can provide leadership in the next
industrial revolution through both academic endeavors and
investments in sustainable resource planning.
Lovins is
the author or co-author of 27 books. He has held many
visiting academic chairs and is the recipient of several
prizes and fellowships, including the MacArthur Fellowship.
The Wall Street Journal named Lovins one of 39 people
world-wide “most likely to change the
course of
business in the 90s”; Newsweek has praised him as “one
of the Western worlds most influential energy
thinkers”; and Car magazine ranked him the 22nd most
powerful person in the global automotive
industry.
No
reservations are necessary for this event. For more
information, contact Connie Leach Bisson, Middlebury College
sustainable campus coordinator, at 802-443-5043.