Name: What is the environmental movement’s biggest accomplishment?
Uploaded: 2008-04-24T12:38:03-04:00
Duration: 1 min 33 s
Description: The environmental movement has created a massive culture shift, Moriarty says.

The environmental movement has created a massive culture shift, Moriarty says.

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Question: What is the environmental movement’s biggest achievement?

Jim Moriarty: I would say the environmental movement’s biggest achievement is culture shift, is actually taking popular culture and moving it. It’s really, really hard to do. It hasn’t been done that many times and it’s happening in real time right now with all the movie stars not driving a Hummer. Hummers and bling are very three years ago. The Prius is actually very last year so using thought leaders and celebrities and those kinds of things-- Jack Johnson, a huge influence, or the number one artist download on iTunes, Jack Johnson, has a song, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Surfrider is going to be on his entire tour in 2008. So those cultural icons, those mouthpieces, are just shifting culture from essentially an incredibly hedonistic, self-centered, consumer-based society to one that is a little bit more sustaining. And it obviously needs to keep moving because we need to make a lot of changes in our lifestyles. We need to re-insulate our houses and all kinds of things if our kids are going to have anywhere near the options and relationship with nature that our parents did and that we do.

Recorded on: 9/27/07