Re: What is your counsel?

Description: Start a blog.

Question: Collectively, what should we be doing?

Transcript: I mean if I were in charge of the, you know . . . If I were like in charge of the government or something like that, I would definitely be doing . . . I would definitely be trying to . . . to . . . I would have like – and this has been proposed by a lot of people – an Apollo program, you know to get the country off of oil, which would have huge affects, you know, geopolitically for us, and (01:14:24) would also have a lot of great benefits environmentally. And it’s not just about switching to ethanol. It’s really about mobbing to like a hydrogen-based economy. Remember like Wired had a cover story like six or seven years ago about . . . about like let’s move to a hydrogen-based economy. And of course you know, we basically lost the past six or seven years. We could have been doing so much more. And so I mean that’s one of the basic things that I would be doing. And . . . and I would be . . . You know I’d have the government helping to facilitate that research and that innovation – doing whatever it takes, whether it’s investing or, you know, deregulating. Whatever it . . . you know whatever it takes from a macro-economic policy. And I won’t pretend to know what that specific solution would be, but I think that’s one of the things where, you know, there’s so much talent, so much energy, and so much expertise that if we’re able to kind of harness it and . . . and enable it, that it’s hard to imagine us not coming up with really creative solutions. It just takes leadership and . . . and people willing to . . . to make tough decisions. And I guess that’s the thing that sort of frustrates me. It doesn’t seem like people are willing to make tough decisions, you know, at a political level about what we need to do. You know I mean you see it . . . You know like . . . You know on a business level, you can . . . The companies that are, you know, moving forward and doing great things are also the ones that are . . . It’s not just about great companies coming up with great ideas and executing them. It’s also having the discipline to make tough decisions about where to spend your resources and . . . and . . . and what to do.

Question: Why are you vegan?

Transcript: Well I mean I’m vegan, so . . . I went vegan about 11 years ago, and I think that it’s a relatively small lifestyle change that, you know, if . . . if everyone on the planet like stopped eating meat, it would actually contribute . . . you would actually contribute greatly to the environment. And you know something . . . Like the carbon related to meat production and animal, you know, red meat production in the world globally, I mean, is like . . . I think it produces as much carbon as all the automobiles in the world. So that’s something like, you know. I don’t expect that to happen anytime soon. And I . . . It’s something I very rarely talk about. But it would be like a . . . It’s one of those things where like it’s such a small personal sacrifice, and you could have such a positive impact, I think, on the planet. You know I think my . . . It’s so funny. It’s like I very rarely give advice to people.

Question: What should we be doing as individuals?

Transcript: Well I mean I’m vegan, so . . . I went vegan about 11 years ago, and I think that it’s a relatively small lifestyle change that, you know, if . . . if everyone on the planet like stopped eating meat, it would actually contribute . . . you would actually contribute greatly to the environment. And you know something . . . Like the carbon related to meat production and animal, you know, red meat production in the world globally, I mean, is like . . . I think it produces as much carbon as all the automobiles in the world. So that’s something like, you know. I don’t expect that to happen anytime soon. And I . . . It’s something I very rarely talk about. But it would be like a . . . It’s one of those things where like it’s such a small personal sacrifice, and you could have such a positive impact, I think, on the planet. You know I think my . . . It’s so funny. It’s like I very rarely give advice to people.

Question: What should we be doing as individuals?

Transcript: My other advice, though, would be . . . and this is something I get asked a lot like just from other bloggers and things like that . . . is you know start communicating. Like start a blog. And it doesn’t have to be a blog that you’re trying . . . to get in the Technorati Top 100. It’s just really about you having a voice, and talking, and getting stuff out there. Talk about the stuff you care about. It doesn’t have to be a personal diary revealing, like, the sordid details of your life, you know? It can . . . It can just be, “Here’s what I care about today.” Here’s like the three things I saw on the Internet that were interesting. And I think it’s about . . . There’s a value in having that voice, you know, and expressing yourself, and having . . . You know having a place where you can do that. And even if what you think you’re . . . you’re expressing isn’t neces . . . Even if you don’t think what you’re expressing is very profound, there’s something profound about expressing in the first place. And I think that’s tremendously valuable.

Recorded on: 10/2/07