February 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

Much has happened since since I last update this time site...

In the fall of 2007 I resigned from the PDC to seek more fruitful opportunities to apply my energies, add my curious brand of creativity and make a difference in the community. At the time I saw a burgeoning interest evolving in all things “sustainable” and I determined to quantify this illusory initiative - at least sufficiently to give it credence in the business and regulatory spheres. To this end I joined the best local environmental consultancy exercise and built a team to create the first sustainability measurement tool. By mid-2008 we had developed a credible tool that could measure not just the environmental impacts of a company or organization, but also take into account its societal and economic contributions to produce an all-around measure of sustainability.

But it soon became clear that neither companies nor the public sector was looking for this kind of rigorous quantification. The former due to a lack of regulation that bade them account for this broader measure of performance, and the latter for lack of trained staff to carry out the initiatives. And by then the financial storm was upon us. Subsequently, I worked to develop the necessary skills that would not only allow my to survive in the energy consulting business but also to maintain my expertise in sustainability so that eventually when these issues arose again I would be well positioned to address them.

In the meantime, I continue to toil in the neighborhood ranks to lead SWHRL (our local neighborhood association) forward. My first book, Portland Forest Hikes seems to be doing pretty well in the stores, and I am working on the second one that will continue the journey all the way to the coast. Look for materials on this under the Forest Hikes sub-site - it’s Forest Hikes II.

Jim