It Doesn’t Take a Village (or a Billionaire, Although a Billionaire Doesn’t Hurt)
Consider this: all the ants on the planet, taken together, have a biomass greater than that of humans. Ants have been incredibly industrious for millions of years. Yet their productiveness nourishes plants, animals, and soil. Human industry has been in full swing for little over a century, yet it has brought about a decline in almost every ecosystem on the planet. Nature doesn’t have a design problem. People do.
—WILLIAM MCDONOUGH AND MICHAEL BRAUNGART, CRADLE TO CRADLE: REMAKING THE WAY WE MAKE THINGS
I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.
—THOMAS ALVA EDISON, 1931, SHORTLY BEFORE HIS DEATH, TO HENRY FORD AND HARVEY FIRESTONE