James Gustave Speth
.jpg)
James Gustave (Gus) Speth (born March 4, 1942 in Orangeburg, South Carolina) is an American environmental lawyer and advocate.
Quotes
[edit]- I used to think the top global environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought that with 30 years of good science we could address these problems. But I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy, and to deal with these we need a spiritual and cultural transformation, and we scientists don't know how to do that.
In his podcast with Earth Charter, available at https://earthcharter.org/podcasts/gus-speth/, Gus Speth corrects the widespread quote to include the words "lawyers and," which is what he actually said at the conference. Here is the corrected quote: “I used to think the top global environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, and climate change. I thought that with thirty years of good science we could address the problems. But I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed, and apathy, and to deal with these we need a spiritual and cultural transformation, and we [lawyers and] scientists don’t know how to do that.”
Speth also translated this sentiment into an original poem entitled "New Consciousness":
“Decades of discourse led by people like me lawyers, scientists, economists and we are stuck.
They can’t do what must be done: reach the human heart. The deep problems are avarice, arrogance and apathy, dominant values badly astray.
What we need is not more analysis but a spiritual awakening to a new consciousness. So let’s bring on the preachers and prophets! the poets and philosophers! the psychologists and psychiatrists! Let’s bring on the writers, musicians, actors, artists!
Call them to strike the chords of our shared humanity, of our close kin to wild things!”
This poem and others are available here: https://www.gusspeth.org/complete-poems.
