Environmental activist Paul Hawken has received critical acclaim for his keynote address at the University of Portland on May 3rd as part of the institution's 108th Commencement.
In an address Humanity.org called one of the most outstanding commencement speeches of the last 75 years, Hawken advocated social justice and corporate responsibility as vital to the future of life on earth.
“You can print money to bail out a bank, but you can’t print life to bail out a planet,” he said during his speech. “At present, we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it GDP. We can just as easily have an economy that is based on healing the future instead of stealing it. Whenever we exploit the earth, we exploit people and cause untold suffering. Working for the earth is not a way to get rich, it is a way to be rich.”
Hawken’s Complete Address – Chiles Center, University of Portland (May 3, 2009)
Humanity.org Outstanding Commencement Speeches 1936-2009
Yes! - June 3
Examiner.com – May 24
Kansas City Star – May 22
Integral Life – May 24
Reading Local - May 23
Really Natural - May 22
University of Cambridge - May 21
Phlawz - May 20
OpEd News – May 19
Compassionate Action Network – May 19
Center for Justice – May 6