Bill Leary to discuss environmental activism at Sustainable Rossmoor meeting

The next Sustainable Rossmoor meeting will be Tuesday, Oct. 6 in the Fairway Room at Creekside. The program begins at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 for socializing, food and drinks.

All Rossmoor residents are welcome, not just members of Sustainable Rossmoor. Residents who care about environmental issues but have never considered themselves environmental activists are especially encouraged to attend.

The speaker will be Bill Leary, who writes the Engaging Saging column for the Rossmoor News. The talk he will give is titled: “Why We’re Still the Right Ones for This Job.”

“Rossmoor residents are blessed to have more than 200 clubs that provide wonderful opportunities for social engagement, fun and learning,” Leary said. “But Sustainable Rossmoor is special because it helps us understand serious environmental issues affecting our lives, our families and future generations. More importantly, it gives residents practical ways to put their experience and abilities to work – and to continue making a difference.”

In his talk, Leary will draw upon a 30-year public-service career that included crafting legislation intended to resolve complex and contentious issues for the Florida Legislature and later the U.S. Senate Environment Committee. He subsequently served as an adviser to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt before moving to the White House, where he advised Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush on environmental and natural resource issues.

Much of his work involved public lands, water resources and ecosystem-restoration efforts in the Florida Everglades and coastal Louisiana. Near the end of his federal career, he also brought lessons from those experiences to conversations in the Klamath River Basin.

Leary will share what he learned both as someone seeking to persuade policymakers and as a policymaker others were trying to persuade. Drawing upon decades of environmental policymaking and ecosystem restoration, he will discuss what experience taught him about listening to differing perspectives, turning conflict into common ground, and building coalitions among people who do not initially agree.

The talk will also explore a more personal question: Why do some people move from concern to action while others who care just as deeply hold back? Leary will consider what helps people recognize that their individual knowledge and experience can become part of something larger and more influential.

He will discuss how sustainability differs from earlier environmental movements such as preservation, conservation, environmental protection and restoration. He will explain why future generations deserve a place at today’s table, and how the accumulated experience of Rossmoor residents can still help shape the world those generations inherit.

Leary will also describe how Sustainable Rossmoor’s committees give residents practical opportunities to become informed, contribute their abilities, and work with others who share their concerns. No specialized scientific or political expertise is required.

“Whether you are motivated by your love of nature, concern over its degradation, or a desire to leave a better environment for future generations, Sustainable Rossmoor provides many ways to become involved,” Leary said. “You do not have to save the planet by yourself. You only have to decide whether you have something left to contribute – and then find a place to begin.”