Let's Invent

As the old saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. And right now, with the problems facing our country and the world, we've got a lot of inventing to do.

Truth is, necessity is a great motivator too. It gets us moving, gives us a boost to try an idea, and encourages us to find new ways of looking at old problems. And those are good things. Because it's clear that doing things the same way isn't working.

Let's take the way we look at our planet and energy. Drill, mine, extract and consume. Kind of easy, and also very of out of date. But our new necessity to find something better, not only to keep our cars going but our planet healthy, is the mother of a wealth of new ideas and increased support for aggressive action.

Would we have taken these steps without crisis? Probably not. The painful truth is that very often only an urgent (and scary) necessity can spur us to take real action.

The Earth Explore Foundation supports new ways of looking at the same old things. Our Adventures put student and teachers in places where they discover interrelationships between our living planet, and our living selves. Those connections, and finding new ways to confront old problems, will be the theme that dominates the coming 50 years. That's why it is so important that our teachers, and our young people find out about these things for themselves, and bring that knowledge, and some new approaches and new thinking back with them.

They will invent the future. And the world will be better for it.