Charting a Green World

Some people never retire, never spend their days on a golf course or with a fishing pole in-hand (although the subject of this article is an avid fisherman, when he gets the chance!). Rather they charge through life, barely slowing down when their golden years come upon them, and they end their days making a mark as large as a dinosaur paw print.

Huey Johnson had a glorious career, working for Jerry Brown as the state environmental czar. But now, at the age of 67, Johnson has just begun to fight for the planet. His brain child, the Resource Renewal Institute, was founded in 1985, as a sort of environmental 'clearing house' of sustainable plans for Planet Earth. The main office is located in San Francisco, but there is a satellite office in New York.

Johnson, unlike many environmentalists, is optimistic about a future for the planet. This is mainly because he sees certain countries that have established a viable sustainable model, and now hopes to convince the rest of the world to follow their example. He travels all over the world and speaks to anyone who will listen to his vision.

Recently, he spoke in Healdsburg, California, near to RRI's home base. His concern for Northern Californians, at least at this time, centers on the pollution in the Russian and Eel rivers. He wants them designated as 'wild rivers', which means they couldn't be over-mined for their water. This would limit growth in Northern California -- this last is Johnson's real goal for the United States.

In order to prove his point, Johnson took the entire Marin Board of Supervisors with him on a trip to the Netherlands. This was no pleasure trip, at least not primarily. The Netherlands is the most ecologically sound country in the world, with all of its' nearly half a million industries participating in the National Environmental Policy Plan. Started in 1989, the plan is threefold, incorporating the regulation of natural resources, industrial manufacturing and recycling. Johnson believes this model should be adapted to the needs and uses of everyone, including all the states of our extensive, bickering nation.

It is at the state level that the RRI is hoping to effect sweeping changes. According to the Institute, "RRI's States Campaign engages state agencies, businesses, local governments, environmental, and community groups in a process designed to achieve implementation of state green plans. Emphasis on state-level action comes from understanding that states have substantial control over most of the laws and policies impacting environmental health."

In fact, RRI expects the role of the states in rejuvenating the planet to increase. This taste is too great to implement on a national level, and can only be tackled through state and country regulation. RRI has developed ties to 25 states, and thusfar has initiated 'green plan' initiatives in New Jersey, Minnesota and Oregon. That trip Johnson took to the Netherlands with Marin County officials was only one -- he has made many such trips to both the Netherlands and New Zealand, the two countries he holds up as the best ecological examples.

The RRI is now using the three 'green plan' states as an example to bring the model to other states and counties. In New Jersey the 'Sustainable State Host Committee' has been formed, so the knowledge and planning the state has implemented can be taken to other cities, counties and states for educational purposes. The Host Committee is made up of public and private leaders, and the first two states that are participating in 'peer exchanges' with the Committee are New York and Maine.

California is currently the focus of the RRI activities. As the state with one of the highest growth rates and one of the richest states in the nation, it is ripe and ready for advanced sustainability study and implementation.

Huey Johnson's early life gave little indication of what his eventual quest would be. He grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, went to college and started a career in the chemical industry. He designed plastic packaging, until he realized how much waste they created -- waste that would never biodegrade, never be anything but pollution. During the 60's he abandoned his career and travelled the world, searching for the answer to a question he hadn't yet asked. He returned to college at the University of Michigan and took another degree, in environmental management.

Johnson helped to develop the Nature Conservancy, and created the Trust for Public Land -- dedicated to saving open space in cities. Governor Jerry Brown created a new appointment for Johnson, who became Secretary of Resources during the Brown administration.

Now Johnson has embarked on his largest quest, and just as he never did before, he's not looking back...only forward, toward a cleaner, brighter tomorrow.