Posted on September 10, 2021 by Robert Wyman
For Fellows of the American College, hardly a day passes without some thought about the changing climate and how together we can transform our world with more sustainable agriculture, buildings, energy and transportation. Those of us who are Baby Boomers naturally think of such challenges as not much different from the Greatest Generation’s battle against totalitarianism or the race to the moon.
It was with this perspective, as I approached retirement from Latham & Watkins, that I cofounded Earthshot with several friends. Earthshot is a climate education nonprofit whose mission is to use modern, immersive communication technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality, museum exhibits and video games, to inspire transformation by showing how emerging zero- and low-carbon technologies and practices can not only stabilize the climate but dramatically enhance our daily lives.
Our hope is to change the narrative – to drive consumer acceptance and public support and overcome the paralysis that crisis headlines often create, through positive, empowering messages. Our work is three-pronged: (1) a web-based clean technology portal to showcase emerging technologies, (2) immersive and interactive experiences that allow participants to see just how climate change will affect them personally and how new technologies will enrich their lives, and (3) entertaining, role-playing video games to stimulate personal interest. Our growing team of professionals includes Academy Award winners, technologists, economists, public policy experts, gamers and game developers, community organizers, social influencers and many others. If you are interested, please join us.
Since we formed Earthshot in 2019, other organizations, such as The Royal Foundation’s Earthshot Prize and the US Department of Energy’s Earthshots Initiative, have chosen the same terminology to harness the excitement clean technology offers. While protecting our mark, we intend to collaborate with these impressive efforts.
We invite you to visit our website, watch our introductory video and share your feedback (email me at bob@earthshot.us).