THE SENIOR MEN'S CLUB OF NEW CANAAN
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of May 16, 2008
President Jack Messert opened meeting with 129 members present out of 475. He cited Pete Stair's excellent work on the web site as displayed on the screen. With riveting visual aids to keep everybody's attention, Jack plowed ahead with the meeting.
The Minister of Health, Bob Moylan, reported that Ed Deadrick, Don Hersam, and Bill Kapp are recuperating at Waveny.
ACTIVITIES: Bridge and racquetball (330) as usual. 5/12, Skyblazers picked right airport to land at Frankfurt, next events being planned. Tuesday 5/20, paddle party, 6-9PM, Waveny Mansion, $5 per person. Tennis nets going up, "whenever" in 2008. 5/22, Trailblazers walk at Croton Dam, leaving at 8:30AM, with 6/25 trip to be announced. 5/23, 4F's at Blackstone Grill. 5/28, golf at Whitney Farms, 9:30AM, $45 per person, next 6/9 at Ridgefield. Photography group processing some excellent members' photos from Glass House trip, for possible display at Lapham Center.
COUTH: Wednesday 6/18, Long Island cruise boarding 11:15AM at River Road
(Cos Cob) $75 including lunch, other events to be announced.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: 6/13, military veterans' (of SMC) picture to be taken at meeting. Welcome news that Gary Wilburn is recovering from surgery.
HUMORIST: Bob told story of atheist who was about to be attacked by a grizzly bear and cut a deal with God to convert the bear to Christianity. Instead of offering mercy, the converted bear gave thanks and "blessed" the atheist as his next meal.
SPEAKER: Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund.
Krupp opened with a short video highlighting his book, "EARTH:the sequel". The
presentation was in his words, "an important message of hope". He emphasized solving environmental problems with marketing forces strongly coupled with corporate strategy.
In Krupp's early work (e.g. 1978 Connecticut Fund for the Environment), he saw need to counter a feeling of hopelessness with a positive picture of the future of transformation, featuring ingenuity, entrepreneurship, technical skills, and political action.
Krupp reinforced a positive view of the future with stories of pioneers, including:
Bernie Karl (Alaska hot springs and the Ice Hotel), Conrad Burke (silicon roof covering to support solar panels), Amyris (hydrocarbons from sugar), Verenium (cellulosic fuels from non-food grass and wood chips). He saw Government as "starting gun in fostering resourcefulness", not as selector of technological "winners and losers". It should incent progress by setting metric measures (e.g. cap/trade regulations and efficiency guides).
Krupp's responses in the Q and A expanded on the above ideas, as for example:
. Global warming higher priority (i.e. CO2, methane, HFC, etc.) than pollution (i.e. circulation of particulates, mercury, etc.).
. Government does better with "limits" to stimulate action than other moves (e.g. subsidizing ethanol production from corn).
. Dealing with other countries on greenhouse gas emissions (i.e. China moving from #2 to #1 polluter, Indonesia #3 and Brazil #4) might benefit from trade penalties.
Don Hudson, Assistant Secretary