I have always said that America needs a royal family. Then we could focus all of our attention on them and stop obsessing about the personal lives of politicians. Prince Charles and his long standing environmentalism provide another reason we could use a royal family; to fill the current, and hopefully soon remedied, leadership vacuum on climate change.
Prince Charles recently called for an end to rainforest logging, according to the The Earth Times, pointing out that for the world’s poor, the trees were worth more dead than alive, in addition to the vital role they play in carbon absorption and water production. He tasked businesses and governments to find ways to incentivize the 1.4 billion poor living in rainforests to keep the trees alive as a way to help alleviate the effects of climate change.
The Prince has also long promoted small, local, organic farming. Leading by example, his own Gloucestershire farm has been organic since 1986 and was among the first to provide organic products in Great Britain long before it was eco-chic. His Duchy Originals brand is made from products grown on his farm in a sustainable manner, with special attention to crop rotation and soil management with the proceeds going to charity, including environmental and alternative health organizations that he has founded. He’s kind of like the Paul Newman of Great Britain!
His public stance on environmental issues has left him open to criticism, particularly about the carbon footprint of the royal fleet of cars and constant world travel. When he accepted an award in New York in January 2007, some environmentalists criticized him for flying there to receive it. Yet, Prince Charles has been shining a spotlight and acting on environmental issues for more than 20 years, including hosting conferences and pushing the U.N.’s environmental agenda -- but, despite that, the media has been more interested in covering his love life. And he did something truly amazing when he was criticized, he paid attention. He cancelled a ski trip right after to save carbon emissions and in January 2008, instead of attending the World Future energy summit in Abu Dhabi, he 'arrived' by hologram to give his speech.
And speaking of his love life, when he married Camilla, he won the eternal loyalty of me and a whole lot of other women over 40. An organic farmer, an outspoken environmentalist, a friend of Al Gore AND he fell in love with and married someone age appropriate? It reads like a green fairy tale! Charles and the rest of the royal family are not without their flaws, but leveraging a position of power to make a positive impact is something to be encouraged.
