The Canadian academic, broadcaster, and activist David Suzuki is the sort of person people follow. As I read an interview he gave on his 75th birthday to Joseph Roberts at commonground.ca, I kept thinking, "wow, that's good. I should share that." So here are some excerpts:

"In Richard Louv’s book 'Last Child in the Woods,' he says we are now suffering from a whole spectrum of problems that are classified under 'Nature Deficit Disorder.' Our children need to experience nature and when you look at things like attention deficit or bullying or hyperactivity, these are all related to the fact that our kids aren’t getting out there. Nature calms us; nature heals us. We need to have nature. We’re growing a group of kids now that spend the least amount of time outdoors than any generation in human history."

"We are being hammered by the impact of science. Yet if you don’t know anything about science how do you make decisions about stem cells, cloning, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, space research, climate change, deforestation, toxic pollution? These are big issues and yet we are so ignorant as a society. We elect people to office who can’t even assess the scientific advice they get."

"Look at your food. Food isn’t about nutrition anymore. It’s about carving out a place in the market, and if we’re going to load it up with trans-fats to get it to taste better, or with sugar to make you want more, they’ll do it. What kind of an industry is it where nutrition and health aren’t the driving forces? It’s got nothing to do with that."

[In response to the question, "Which principles are important for people to get right now and which tools are really useful?] "You’re asking someone who’s been, I think, a total failure. I’ve done the best I could, but I don’t see much traction. To me, the most important thing is what I wrote in 'The Sacred Balance,' ... simply trying to remind people that we are animals. There are lots of places, like in southern Alberta or part of Texas, where I’ve given speeches and told kids, 'Don’t forget we’re animals.' Man, their parents get pissed off at me. 'Don’t call my daughter an animal. We’re human beings.' We have this attitude that we deny our biological nature."

"What’s needed now is a Bretton Woods II conference to deal with the challenge of reintegrating nature as a part of our economy and of realizing that we need to have an equilibrium – an economy that doesn’t grow. The economy is already far beyond the capacity of the biosphere to support it."