As I waited out the rainstorm today, I reflected on all the devastation I’d seen on the road here in Vietnam, starting in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and most recently between Nha Trang to Quy Nhon. If those last two names sound familiar to you, it’s because they’ve been hit with some of the worst typhoons in recent memory within the last month, and the scars are still very apparent; downed power lines, destroyed billboards, half-demolished buildings, floods throughout the country, and massive landslides where whole mountainsides gave way.

They say these storms have been becoming both worse, and more frequent. Something to do with changing water temperatures out in the ocean, changing the pattern for these devastating storms. So, as I looked for ways to entertain myself today, as the sound of massive storm-swept waves crash outside my window, “An Inconvenient Truth” popped up in my movie list. Well, I’m embarrassed to say, but even after working in the energy efficiency space for 7 years, I still hadn’t seen the film. It’s been on that movie list for a while now, so I figured, what better time than now. End result, if I told you I knew everything presented there, I’d be straight up lying. There was a TON of new information, and in light of the years that have past, it is all just as, or possibly even more relevant now than it was when the movie first came out. Now, there are definitely some points which can be (and have been) challenged, but the overall message and thrust of the film rings true. With these storms over the last several years, it seems quite apparent that climate change is not only coming, it has already arrived to the party and neglected to shut the door behind it.

This got me thinking. What can I do now? Of course there are business ideas percolating somewhere up inside my brain, but I’ll leave those for another day. Since I was on the topic of sustainability, climate change, and reducing my carbon footprint (this is something I’ve been concerned with after all the airline miles I’ve been flying of late), another documentary came to mind; “Cowspiracy“. This one has been recommended a number of times over the last several months, and again, I’d failed to take the time to watch it.

So watch it, I did. Wow, was I happy I did so. I thought it was going to be an hour and a half watching different forms of meat grinders. That was not even close. First, it spent the vast majority of the film speaking to the cow and crop impacts on greenhouse gas emissions. This is something that has been questionably missing from the conversation. At least all the conversations I’ve been a part of over the course of the last several years, from local meetings on up to state roundtables. The impact of agriculture as we know it is tremendous, but it’s been a taboo subject, that not even many of the nation’s top “green” NGOs will acknowledge or speak to. Scary, but it goes to show how much our nation (the US of A) is governed and run by money. The sad thing is, for a country that seems so steeped in innovation, we’re a people that is incredibly attached to the status quo. Whenever something innovative comes along that might threaten an entrenched industry (think automotive, agriculture, energy) those age-old companies come out of the woodwork to lobby against this new demon with the old cliché, “it’s going to kill jobs!” Perhaps this is exactly the kind of response politicians and people in power should look for if they’re looking for innovation, new jobs, and growth. The old guys are scared, so they use the biggest fear in capitalism to stop innovation cold in it’s tracks.

On to the second bit of “Cowspiracy”, the transformation of the narrator from a casual meat eater to a full-blown vegan. I’ve recently gone to a plant-based diet due to the ethical and emotional issues I have with killing another animal for food, but to have the environmental impacts spread out so succinctly creates an even stronger argument. Fixed figures aren’t presented below, but this simple comparison from the film speaks volumes:

Thoughts of community gardens and co-living spaces fill my mind. Perhaps this idea has legs? Perhaps I can use my background in real estate development and energy systems to make a positive step in this direction? Only time will tell, but the ideas presented here have definitely started the gears turning for me.

Finally, many thanks to Netflix for having these two films, and enabling me to remain entertained while I waited out the storm.