“Zero Emissions” Time has Come
Executive Director  National TV  Guest
Millennium Project Planning Committee
1999 State of the Future
Honored by Leonard
Interns

“Zero Emissions” Time has Come

Reconstruction in the Balkans, Turkey, E. Timor, Taiwan and North Carolina affords an unbidden opportunity for the United Nations to exert skills, other than peacekeeping, to fulfill obligations of its charter.
In 1994 the United Nations University targeted “zero emissions” for study, and published a paper, “The Industrial Clusters of the 21st Century,” by Gunter Pauli.  Pauli was instrumental in the building of the world’s first zero emissions factory for detergents in Belgium.
With apologies to the author for omissions and condensations here is a brief summary:
Recognizing that governments and industry are re-engineering to produce products with zero defects and zero inventory to the exclusion of the expensive, and some say, unattainable “zero emissions” we propose, still, that from a practical point of view zero emissions must come to the fore as a primary research effort  for the following reasons: a) increasing population and concomitant use of resources will deplete petroleum and other natural supplies such as ocean and stream fish. b) current attempts to recycle are inefficient and expensive. For example, recycled paper is expensive and of poor quality. The process of de-inking is inefficient with only 65 percent of the ink being removed. The residue of the current process is a toxic sludge which in itself is highly polluting. c) the work force is becoming smaller as technology replaces the human body - increased use of the residue of one industrial process as resource material for another product will increase the number of people employed in new industries.
Now is the time for world industry to reform into “industrial clusters” so that the waste of one industry becomes the resource for another. This will require a massive effort by scientists to invent new technologies, from business to identify the synergies required, from entrepreneurs to capitalize on the new opportun- ities, and from government to revamp its industrial policies. Several examples are given including:
a) using sludge from recycling inked paper for insulation, packaging, ceiling tiles, corrugated cardboard and light building materials, b) using the “green mass” (residue from logging as trees are stripped of branches) for synthetic perfumes and food preservatives, c) using sugar to replace detergents, water softeners, cosmetics, pharma- ceuticals and plastics, d) using sugar-based cleaners to replace harsh chemicals with the waste water and sludge being used to feed cattle and fish.
...Just as the U.S. Army with a research center (AEPI), specifically focused on environmental policy, can lead the way on Environmental Security, the UNU can lead the way on Zero Emissions to the benefit of all.

Executive Director  National TV  Guest

Jerome C. Glenn, author, editor, co-chairman of the Millennium Project, and Executive Director of the American Council for the United Nations University appeared on national television (NBC) at the invitation of John McLaughlin to discuss the events surrounding the coming of the year 2000.
The show was telecast in Washington on August 28th and gave the Council unprecedented exposure with Jerry Glenn being identified as AC/UNU on his name placard.
YOUR TURN
If you haven’t, and we are sure you have, please write to your senators and congressperson and give your views on the United States providing financial support to the UNU.  Please send copies of your letters to the American Council for our follow-up. With increasing federal surpluses, this seems the time to remind old friends of a worthwhile action.

This is a book for a multi-adaptable reading public who may or may not know of each other but who have most of the same ideas, interests and concerns. 340 pages of text and diagrams that could only be produced by many dedicated intellectuals, scientists, academics, and just Plain Joe. There were 300 of them - all submitting their best thinking in succinct and very readable text.
The editors will not tell you who these authors are in order to preserve their identity- thus giving complete freedom to write what they think without fear of government oppression or political correctness.
“Scouting the future frontier into which we so slowly moved wasn’t particularly challenging yester-   year. Hugely different now; more so tomorrow, as this book reveals. It is an eye opener; sober; challenging, exciting, appro- privately scary. It’s something you should read if you expect to go along, especially if you would like to affect the route.” Says Doug Engelbart.

1999 State of the Future is edited by the MILLENNIUM PROJECT of the American Council for the United Nations University. The editors are Theodore Gordon  and Jerome C. Glenn. Sponsors of the MILLENNIUM PROJECT include Alan F. Kay and Hazel Henderson Foundation, United States Army Environmental Policy Institute, Deloitte & Touche, General Motors, Hughes Space and Communications Company, Monsanto Company and the United Nations University. Wow!
Collaborators are the Smithsonian Institution and The Futures Group International. Wow again!
The main body of this report is made up of written reactions to specific questions that were carefully selected, such as, How can ethical markets increase economic development to reduce the gap between the rich and poor? Answers are pregnant with new ideas and expositions of countries successes and failures.
The editors have tried to make the language acknowledged international English and have, by in large, succeeded. If you wish to dally, however, try to determine the country of the authors. Their writings are separated by ......... in the text. The only real hard country to identify is Canada and that is because Canadians pronounce “ou” as “ooo” - not a normal “ah.”
Incidentally, what is a NODE?

END OF BOOK REVIEW

You can purchase this book by sending $48.50 (plus $2.20 for S&H) to AC/UNU,  4421 Garrison St., NW, Washington, DC 20016-4055.
You may wish to buy several copies to give to your local schools and libraries. 20% discount for orders of  2 - 9; 40 % for orders of 10 or more copies plus S&H.
This is a handsome book and would stand in good stead on a coffee table or in a professional’s waiting room. Could make a good Christmas gift. Let us know and we will gift wrap and mail on December 15, 1999.

HONORED BY LEONARD
Ambassador James F. and Mrs. Eleanor H. (Jim and Ellie) Leonard took time out of their busy lives to do what we all wanted to do, and which only they could do with such perfection - a party at their country home in Marshall, Virginia in honor of the United Nations and some people who have worked so hard on its behalf and especially Steve Dimoff, Tori Holt, and  Joe Sills.

This was a fairly large party and diverse as could be. There were infants - there were white heads - there were active swimmers - there were hot tub immersants - there were talkers - there were eaters. All had two things in common, not one (the UN) but also the beginning of the end of the drought. This may have been a foreshadowing of what all of these honorees wish - that the United States will pay its dues to the UN. Many thanks Jim and Ellie. Those of us who attended your party appreciate your gracious hospitality.

So often overlooked, but not to be forgotten are the American Council interns whose dedication has kept the work of the Council and the Millennium Project an up-to-date going concern. The interns are listed below, but first a special thanks to Elizabeth Florescu who, in assisting the Executive Director, has become a knowledgeable asset to the Council. Now the interns -

Azusa Kubota from Japan and attending Smith College.

Asao Shimizu from Japan and attending GW University.

Eshani Wijesekera from Sri Lanka and attending American University.

Andrea Richiardi from Italy  focusing on European business and trade implications of the fifteen global challenges.

Brandy Branham from Germany providing WEB assistance.
 
 Esther Lee from Korea working on the Millennium Symposium in Egypt.

Christy Johnson from the USA  working on a State of the Future television pilot.

Jennifer Escott from Scotland  working on conflict resolution.