Opportunity Green and the future of L.A.

Not yet registered for Opportunity Green, the green biz conference happening this Saturday, Nov. 17? Sign up now so you don't miss out on this quick crash course on how to combine environmentalism with profitable business. (Discount code at end of post)

Organized via a partnership among UCLA organizations, Opportunity Green will feature breakout sessions and panels, "green speed networking," and inspiring talks from the impressive speaker lineup, which includes Kevin Wall, the founder of Live Earth, and Heather Stephenson, founder of Ideal Bite.

But the speaker I'm most psyched to hear from is futurist Jamais Cascio, co-founder of Worldchanging who now blogs at Open the Future. We've kept in touch since we were both on a green blogging panel at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. Since then, Jamais has done everything from figure out the carbon footprint of a cheeseburger in minute detail to include me in the most geekified blog memes ever, like this pharyngula mutating genre meme.

His being a futurist and all, I asked Jamais what he sees that's unique about L.A.'s future (versus other cities). His answer:

Los Angeles is a city built on competing visions of the future.

On the surface, L.A. seems to be the realization of all of the leading environmental risks: the auto-centric culture; the suburban sprawl; the overburdened water table; the celebration of all things consumer, from media to merchandise. There's truth to this caricature, unfortunately. And while these environmental burdens could once be seen as persistent annoyances, they're now nothing less than engines for catastrophe.

At the same time, L.A. embraces constant reinvention. The immigrants passing through, both from outside the U.S. and -- even more often -- from other American states, churn the culture, the economy and the society of Los Angeles in ways that would be hard to replicate anywhere else. With them come new ideas, and the desire for a space to see the ideas flourish. The media industry is itself founded on the notion of creative destruction, entrepreneurial cycles accelerated a hundred-fold; and while the media companies themselves may sometimes forget this underlying truth, and instead seek the comforts of stagnant incumbency, the thousands upon thousands of creative people working in and supporting the industry live the life of creative destruction every day.

Fortunately, Los Angeles doesn't ignore the environmental challenges it faces, and the number of organizations and companies looking for ways to handle these dilemmas is staggering. The solutions won't be simple and won't be cheap, but will -- if and when they arise -- be globally transformative. If they can work in Los Angeles they can work nearly anywhere, especially in the explosive cities of the developing world. Lessons (and innovations!) from Los Angeles are far more likely to be applicable in Beijing or Bangalore than would techniques copied from Portland or New York.

The quandary that Los Angeles faces, then, is whether to see the environmental risks as the leading driver for innovation and reinvention, or to allow them to turn the megalopolis into the first big failed city-state of the 21st century.

What will Jamais be talking about at Opportunity Green? "Oh, the usual: the future and how to get there (hint: don't take the 405)."

So find out how to get there this Saturday! Registration is rather pricy at $249, but the first 10 Emerald City readers to sign up can get $50 off using this code: emeraldcity. Students get in for $75.

Comments

[Jason Freely]

Opportunity Green was certainly opportunity... Opportunity for it's organizers to profit, and opportunity for it's speakers to look and feel important. The 'elitist' attitude of the modern day environmentalist posing as an advocate for both the planet and business has got to stop! And profiting from green under the guise of 'helping businesses 'understand' the importance of being green is just unacceptable.

This was truly a wasted day for business leaders looking to learn how to 'Be green, and be profitable' (the event's tagline).