More and more mind blowing stuff at the LOHAS conference today. First we have Hunter Lovins, her real name. She runs a company called Natural Capitalism that helps small businesses go green. She’s also a professor, author of nine books, and world-wide speaker.

Some of the many things I learned from this large-presenced woman in a black cowboy hat:

1) Half the world lives on less than $2 a day
2) The number to “sear into your brain” is “350 parts per million.” That’s how much carbon dioxide we should have in the air to not head toward catastrophic, irreversible climate change. We currently have 385 parts per million.
3) Support the Waxman-Markey Bill–It would put in place an American climate protection regime. Bill is imperfect but it’s all we’ve got. “Call your congress person today. Today. Not tomorrow and tell them you want them to support this bill.”
4) Walmart is leading the green business evolution. Not “out of the goodness of their hearts” but because it’s the future of business. Because in Germany people “simply stopped shopping there” because of their unsustainable business practices. And they are saving money because of it.
5) Companies that go green are the future. Going green increases profits. With data from Goldman Sachs to back it up.
6) Dupont is saving $2.2 billion a year because of their eco-efficiency policies. This year their profit was $2.2. billion. Green is keeping them in business.
7) BHAG stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal (coined by author Jm Collins), and companies like DuPont have made and are meeting them.
8) Former CIA director R. James Woolsey drives a plug-in hybrid that he runs off this solar panels in his house. He has a bumpersticker that reads: Bin Laden Hates My Car. He considers the environmental crisis “a national security issue.”
9) “No more coal–we don’t need it, we can’t afford it.”