Introduction

Find your niche in the climate economy, where it’s a win-win-win for climate-economy-humanity.

The Climate Economy is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit for education and experimentation on business models and lifestyles that are good for the climate, economy and humanity. Our mission is to empower every individual, through youth-led community-based generative change, to build wealth and live their purpose in service to all life on earth, nurturing nature and human well-being. We call that “thriving authentically.” Our vision is to replace the current market system, which puts humanity’s core values of human rights, freedom, security, democracy, health, equality, and our very survival at supreme risk. By 2050, we envision a thriving zero-carbon economy, and we will have eradicated poverty, unemployment, violence, addiction and mental health issues of all kinds, and forever wars over resources.

All of the resources we provide are free (supported by sponsors and donations). We encourage you to take the ideas and use them in your own communities. Please connect with us so we can share ideas and progress!

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” – Buckminster Fuller

Our People and Growing Network

Founder and President/CEO: Amy McMorrow Hunter
Board Members: Chris Walls, Executive Director, Science Center of Southern Illinois; Adam Stone, Author, Producer, Filmmaker, Attorney

Partners/Collaborators (past and present): University of Illinois Center for Urban Resilience and Environmental Sustainability, Science Center, Boys and Girls Club, Southern Illinois Community Foundation, ShopSouthernIllinois.com, Downstate Caucus of the Illinois Climate Table, Carbondale Spring, Southern Illinois Cooperative Business Fund, Prairie Rivers Network, Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, Women for Change, Carbondale Park District, City of Carbondale, Sierra Club Shawnee Group, Carbondale Spring, the Poor People’s Campaign of Southern Illinois, Faith in Place, Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship, Touch of Nature, Cristaudo’s and the Southern Illinois Collaborative Kitchen, City of Harrisburg, City of Carbondale’s Sustainability Commission, Egyptian Electric Cooperative Association, AES Solar, Solarize Southern Illinois, StraightUp Solar, Just Transition Fund, Women’s Health Naturally, Energy Resources Group, Macedonia Development Corporation, Food Works, Carbondale Spring’s Food Autonomy Initiative, Community Development Sustainable Solutions (CDSS) East St. Louis, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, SIU’s Sustainable Communities Center (SIUeSCC), Citizens Utility Board, Land for Learning Institute, GreenOurPlanet…

ShopSouthernIllinois.com, a local business directory and pollinator, donates 50% of all package revenues to The Climate Economy Education Inc.

Our main offices are in Makanda, Illinois (southern Illinois).

What We Do Now

Our Vision of the Future We’re Helping to Create

We are in the process of building our programs toward a better future for all. Some of the components of that future:

Green Venturing is a new approach to progress, growing out of efforts started in 2019. It’s fun STEAM education, experimentation and new venture development (science, technology, engineering, art and math), at all education levels and ages, with new community support structures and rewards systems. The goal is to support students on their journey to their dream job, that is, of course, good for the climate, economy and humanity. It’s supported and run by volunteers at the high school, college and lifelong learner levels as they provide customized programming and mentorship.
Green Venturing will be supported by Community Climate Venture Centers (CCVCs). CCVCs are hubs based in low-income and marginalized communities with aspects of science centers, maker spaces, indoor gardens, community kitchens, computer labs, resilience hubs and youth hostels. They host Green Venturing activities for their region, which will be unique in the CCVC Network. CCVCs will first be established up and down the Amtrak’s Chicago to New Orleans train route, making them as accessible as possible to everyone everywhere. CCVCs can take shape anywhere someone wants to create one, and at any scale. (Read More)
CCVCs will aid in the development of regional shared visions. Read the draft shared vision document for southern Illinois.

The 3-Step Program

The table below gives and overview. More in-depth information can be found on All4.Earth’s related course.

Step	Step 1: Understanding Your Needs and Impact	Step 2: Find Your Niche	Step 3: Participate and Share
Description	Everyone’s first priority always has to be their own mental and physical health and safety. We need to have clean air and water, adequate shelter, food, education, healthcare, security and mental health. As we build and protect our comfort zone, we have to ensure that we don’t harm others or the environment in doing so.	All kinds of expertise and skills are needed in The Climate Economy in areas like clean energy, natural conservation and restoration, the circular economy, and in every facet of life. Explore and learn more about what you love, and how it fits in The Climate Economy. Specialize and create value in your area of expertise.	Humans need to feel that their lives have meaning and that they personally have value. Belonging and contributing our strengths and experiences to a community is also a basic human need. Get involved, build community, build connections, build trust, share experiences, and contribute your expertise.
Change	Values-Driven and Authentic: From old “that’s just the way things are done” reasons for maintaining status quo to new worldview – everything’s always changing – throw out the things you think you know and start over, everyone gets a do-over (this is for elders) – you aren’t rewarded for selfishness, carelessness, harm; changing habits and beliefs	Evidence-Based and Eco-Rich: From profit/money priority to well-being of humans and environment priority – we don’t have to live off profits (profits are a bonus) – you don’t get profits if you cause harm; changing motivation and jobs	Cooperative Development: From competition to cooperation – sharing – co-improving – competition for fun, not to make others lose job or die from pollution – we’re all in this together, when one benefits we all benefit; changing/dissipating influence, centers of power
Actions (See Also: CVM)	Understand: Background, now; CVM: Vision, TA (Causes, CEH), PA (Causes, CEH)	Plan: Decisions, priorities, steps; CVM: Funnel, Priorities, Inflows, Outflows; What we measure	Take Action: Pathways, experiments, measuring, re-working; Execute, Measure, Evaluate
Tools	For Individuals: Carbon Footprint Analysis Checklists Everything’s Connected Climate SWOT Scenarios For Communities and Organizations: Current Conditions and Stakeholders Enabling Conditions for CRD: Governance, Finance, Knowledge and Capacity, Catalyzing Conditions Key Variables (Knowns and Unknowns Climate SWOT Scenarios	Education, Job and Green Venture Pathways Table Prioritizing (SMART) Goals and Measures ⇓ Prioritize Target Actions ⇓ Climate Venture Map Per Target Action→Pathways	For Each Pathway (TA, Team, Time): Measure Record Track Share Begin Again
Optimizations	Impact	Helpfulness	Planetary Citizenship
Measures (old → new)	Achievements → Actions Ignorance → Understanding	Competition → Cooperation Profits → Well-Being GDP → Wellness Index	Trade Secrets → Commons Scarcity → Abundance

According to the IPCC (https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6wg2/pdf/IPCC_AR6_WGII_FinalDraft_FullReport.pdf, p 18-6):

People, acting through enabling social, economic and political institutions, are the agents of system transitions and societal transformations that facilitate climate resilient development founded on the principles of inclusion, equity, climate justice, ecosystem health, and human well-being (very high confidence).

We as passengers on Spaceship Earth and members of communities can and must create a healthy, productive, prosperous future for all. Transformative change is needed now to reverse the observed “human-driven decline of life on Earth.” But how? Here is the most comprehensive answer ever found:

…Solutions are needed that simultaneously address a nexus of relevant goals, such as feeding humanity, resourcing growing cities, mitigating climate change, protecting nature on land and at sea, maintaining freshwater, and ensuring animal welfare. The futures that successfully address this suite of sustainability goals require rapid transition towards clean energy, a continued ramping up of biological conservation, large-scale restoration of degraded ecosystems, and transformation of supply chains to reduce resource extraction and environmental impacts. However, such comprehensive changes to direct drivers also require reform of indirect drivers, including innovations in economic and political structures and societal norms. (https://www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagazine/13_december_2019-open/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1545469#articleId1545469)

What, whut? How is a person supposed to be able to do that? Here’s a shorter version:

We’re inundated with responsibilities, distractions and pressures from all angles as it is. Can someone just give us a cheat sheet on something that will work?

Change can be hard and complicated, but often results in positive outcomes. The first step is having the courage to commit to positive change. After that, it’s up to each individual and community to set their unique pathways. That’s what we help people do with our three steps.

Additional Information

We’re going through a transition from the old way to the new way:

The Old Way	The Climate Economy Way
Energy from fossil fuels Poor, women and communities of color suffering the most from climate change Planned obsolescence and endless waste Capitalism Plastic economy Big Ag Conformity and Exclusion Winner-takes-all/Competition Immovable Massive Institutions Stagnation, maintaining the status quo Scarcity	Clean energy, zero emissions Climate Equity – hardest hit people are prioritized Circular Economy, zero waste Cooperativism Bioeconomy Regenerative Agriculture Diversity and inclusion Cooperation/Collaboration Adaptive Action and nimble ventures Re-creation and continuous discovery Abundance

As a result of the climate economy, we’ll have:

Lives more connected to nature,
Cleaner air and water,
Clean energy and fuels for electricity and transportation,
A more sustainable and healthy food supply,
More meaningful, well-paying jobs,
Better youth engagement,
Less waste,
Healthy soil,
Locally sourced food and necessities,
Appreciation of Indigenous peoples,
Climate justice for society’s most vulnerable groups,
People who choose to put their passions to work for the betterment of society, and
Cohesive, cooperative, resilient communities.

Can you picture it?

What are the benefits of The Climate Economy?

In The Climate Economy we talk about new and changing business models that are a win-win-win for climate-economy-humanity. Here are some “wins” we can imagine that would be brought about by the climate economy:

Climate Wins: reduced pollution, safe drinking water, flourishing forests, biodiversity, stable climate. In the climate economy, we work not only to protect nature, but also to help it flourish.
Economic Wins: new jobs, new industries, regenerative agriculture, sustainable resource use, removal of inefficiencies, waste optimization, recycling. In the climate economy, a job is not only to build wealth, but to fulfill our purpose in life.
Human Wins: Purposeful work, community involvement, lifelong learning, better health. In the climate economy, we work not only for ourselves, but for the betterment of all humanity.

Businesses that aim for these wins will win the future! Upcoming generations will demand them.

Who is The Climate Economy For?

In the race to preserve the climate for future generations, there are excellent strides being made at the international, national, state and local levels. TheClimateEconomy.com is for every person out there who may already have a business, need an idea for a business, students who need research ideas, or community groups looking for new projects. It’s for the people, by the people! People of every age, race, gender, location, and political stripe can benefit from a transition to the climate economy. All areas of expertise will be needed. It’s about things you can do. The opportunities are literally infinite. Some ways you may benefit from The Climate Economy:

Your community may be already feeling the effects of climate change. There are lots of things that peole and communities can do.
“Eco” your business: Explore new business models to design out waste, improve efficiency, save energy, etc.
Benefit from positive PR: Responsible companies are getting all the love nowadays. Especially from younger generations.
Prepare for the future carbon credits economy: It’s coming, and you’ll do well to be prepared to take advantage of it.
Create new markets: Open up paths to new products and services to create new opportunities and revenue for your ideas or business.
The Climate Economy is a new world of ingenuity, learning and cooperation there for the taking by those willing to work for it. You don’t have to “settle in,” you can continuously advance and improve things. Use your brain to its full potential like it’s meant to be. It’s like a second chance, or a new leash on life. Grab it.