In the astonishingly picturesque mountain village of Snowmass, Colorado, a five-day summit takes place every year that’s been called the “Davos of Clean and Renewable Energy”. The AREDAY summit is a program of the American Renewable Energy Institute (AREI). It provides a platform for high level cross-sector networking that results in investments, collaborations, strategic alliances and new initiatives. AREDAY brings together over 100 cross-sector speakers and includes a film festival, concert, electric vehicle show and environmental expo.
And in June 2018, Parvati.org was a part of it.
On the summer solstice at the AREDAY Summit, Parvati.org’s founder the Canadian musician, yogini and activist Parvati gave a keynote address about the importance of protecting the Arctic polar ice with the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS).
Parvati explained to an audience of motivated and knowledgeable industry leaders how MAPS boldly addresses multiple issues facing our world today in one simple and immediate solution. Other AREDAY speakers included Dr. Sylvia Earle (Mission Blue), Jean-Michel Cousteau (Ocean Futures Society), Captain Paul Watson (Sea Shepherd) and Claes Nobel (United Earth).
The AREI’s mission is to “advance the rapid implementation of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at the speed and scale necessary to provide solutions of both the environmental and economic crises currently facing humankind and the planet.” As such, it’s a natural fit with Parvati.org. The Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary compels a global shift to renewable energy.
AREI’s co-founder and president is Sally Ranney, who brings forty years’ experience in the environmental arena. Ranney has worked with three U.S. Presidents, including President Reagan who appointed her to his Commission on American Outdoors. In addition, she is CEO of Stillwater Preservation, LLC, a wetlands mitigation banking company, and is a Patron of Nature for the IUCN. This trailblazer for conservation has been recognized with the Horace Albright Award, the International Conservation Award, Earth Guardians’ Earth Stewardship Award, and the Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation (CELF) Lifetime Achievement Award.
Of MAPS, Ranney says, “This is a bold and courageous vision. It can be realized. Global momentum will build as more and more people learn of the tangible, potential benefits of MAPS – to protect the magnificent, fragile, and besieged Arctic and its vast biodiversity of underwater life. Thank you. This is a potential game changer, and we are with you 100%.”
Fittingly, Parvati’s presentation took place on International Day of Yoga. The true meaning of yoga as union is the founding principle for Parvati’s all-volunteer not-for-profit Parvati.org. Inspired by its founder, everyone at Parvati.org performs selfless service, or karma yoga, to create MAPS. “The karma yogi knows that to serve another is to serve oneself, as there is no real separation between us,” says Parvati. “The summer solstice reminds us that Nature interconnects us all. The Arctic Ocean may seem far away, but what happens in the Arctic affects all life on Earth. With the ice melting quickly, it’s now our turn to give back to Nature and safeguard the Arctic Ocean.”
Tragically, as this issue of Parvati Magazine goes to print, the beautiful forests near Snowmass are ravaged by wildfire after a lack of rain. Hundreds of homes in the area have been lost. In the past three decades, as the Arctic ice disappears, wildfire frequency has quadrupled. The thoughts of everyone at Parvati Magazine and Parvati.org are with those affected by such fires. We urge all readers to support the immediate realization of MAPS, the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary, to stabilize our world climate and reduce wildfires globally.
Parvati.org is a not-for-profit dedicated to a healthy world. Its first order
of business is the realization of MAPS: the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary,
an effective step to cool our planet and keep our oceans alive.