Scott Nadler
Red, white, blue and green: America’s environment through the lens of history
The environment is hotly debated in America today, with politics and science intertwined. Let’s step away from the current debates, though, and instead look back through the lens of history. We’ll find that America’s definition and views of the environment have changed radically over the centuries. A fascinating and diverse set of “mental models” of the environment evolved over and with the country’s political and economic history. Many of them became embedded in or even launched public and private institutions that are still here. Leave your politics and current events at the door. Walk through over five centuries of “mental models” of the environment. You might even recognize your own model – and which era it came from!
Scott Nadler (nadlerstrategy.com | Twitter | LinkedIn) has more than 45 years of hands-on experience in the private and public sectors as well as politics, government, industry, consulting, and academics. He serves as Senior Fellow with the Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI), and as a Board member of The Keshi Foundation, a public non-profit providing sustainable pathways promoting Zuni arts, education and economy while respecting the traditions and lifeways of the Zuni People. He is also a docent in the “Walking Tours of Historic Downtown Santa Fe [NM].”