permaculture

[Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network <lakinroe@silcom.com>]

Green Party candidate Genest carries Gore's message
By Andrew King
Article online since May 1st 2008, 13:35
http://www.westmountexaminer.com/article-208505-Green-Party-candidate-Genest-carries-Gores-message.html

Be the first to comment on this article
Al Gore's film 'An Inconvenient Truth' has brought worldwide 
attention to the topic of environmental sustainability, and now 
Westmount's Green Party candidate is spreading that message to create 
sustainable change that the community can embrace.
Claude William Genest, the former actor and current Green Party 
deputy leader, has devoted his career as a politician to bringing 
environmentally sustainable solutions to the way businesses operate 
and to the way each person lives at home.

Between being recognized by Gore, teaching permaculture at the 
University at Vermont and producing an Emmy-nominated series for PBS, 
Genest took some time to talk about his work and how he's willing to 
go door-to-door to make sustainability a reality.

"Before I knew it, I was leaving behind hosting Travel Travel, which 
was a plenty good job, to go work on farms in Australia and New 
Zealand and learn about things from the ground up," said Genest. "It 
completely transformed me."

Recently, Genest was one of only a handful of Canadians chosen to 
receive training from Gore on how to teach others about the issues of 
climate change.

"Mr. Gore was going to choose 200 people; I applied and was one of 
those chosen," said Genest. "I was so impressed by Mr. Gore and Dr. 
(David) Suzuki... These guys are true warriors. It's not what they 
say, it's about what they do. That really galvanized me."

With his diverse plate of environmental projects, including teaching 
and his PBS series The Art of Sustainable Living, Genest believes 
that he has the ability to successfully promote change through 
multiple venues.

"I've always said I was going to push the thing on all angles... All 
change comes from the bottom up... so I believe that and I practice 
that when I teach permaculture," said Genest. "But now, I really, 
really, really believe that change has to happen also from the top 
down. We need to have the policy and laws in place to move this thing forward."

Genest's approach of making personal connections to small groups of 
people, instead of delivering speeches to full auditoriums, has had a 
positive effect on what he sees as a society "divorced from our 
political powers."

"Every time I go talk in someone's home in front of 15 or 20 people, 
two or three of them immediately go, 'I'm going to have you go speak 
to 15 of my friends,'" says Genest. "We've got to go out there and 
start talking..."

Even with Genest's time limited with his non-stop work, he is 
preparing for a possible election, attending the Emmy Awards and is 
in the process of writing a book.

"Things are definitely moving [but] it's not me that's moving, it's 
green consciousness. The right thing is emerging and I'm just one of 
the people able to talk about it."