AECOM Thought Leadership: Are our Environmental Goals Distracted by "Truthiness?"
By: Gary Lawrence
Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at AECOM
Within London’s Westminster Cathedral Complex is a circular room that houses an ecclesiastical logic gate. Developed long before we thought in zeros and ones, the gate facilitates a simple choice. On one side of the room is a passageway labeled something to the effect of “yes”; on the opposite side is a passageway designated “no.” I recall thinking that what was really needed was a third passageway labeled, “I don’t know, but I need to move along nevertheless.”
Around the globe, the average citizen is caught in the crossfire of ideologies: between secularism and religion, between socialism and capitalism … I have talked before about the concept of what Stephen Colbert ingeniously coined “truthiness” — this willingness people have to declare the truth to be what they’re predisposed to believe.
About AECOM
AECOM is a premier, fully integrated professional and technical services firm positioned to design, build, finance and operate infrastructure assets around the world for public- and private-sector clients. With nearly 100,000 employees — including architects, engineers, designers, planners, scientists and management and construction services professionals — serving clients in over 150 countries around the world, AECOM is ranked as the #1 engineering design firm by revenue in Engineering News-Record magazine’s annual industry rankings, and has been recognized by Fortune magazine as a World’s Most Admired Company. The company is a leader in all of the key markets that it serves, including transportation, facilities, environmental, energy, oil and gas, water, high-rise buildings and government. AECOM provides a blend of global reach, local knowledge, innovation and technical excellence in delivering customized and creative solutions that meet the needs of clients’ projects. A Fortune 500 firm, AECOM companies, including URS Corporation and Hunt Construction Group, had revenue of approximately $19 billion during the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2014. More information on AECOM and its services can be found at www.aecom.com.
Media Contact:
Ed Mayer
Vice President, Corporate Communications
+1.732.564.3380
Ed.Mayer@aecom.com
