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<br /> <br />OOJ583 Letter From the President <br /> <br />Dear Friends and Colleagues: <br /> <br />As I write this, the tragic events of September 11 still reverberate in our thoughts. <br />Like so many others, staff members of the Institute have been personally and <br />professionally touched by the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC. <br />The Pacific Institute was founded in 1987, with the belief that the old ways of <br />thinking about development, environment, and security were outmoded. What we all <br />witnessed a few weeks ago was a horrible reminder of the complexities of the new <br />world we live in and the need to understand the real threats and problems facing us. <br />We've often complained about our full name. Yet we now fmd ourselves proud that <br />our name explicitly recognizes that problems of international security, environmental <br />protection, and the development of sustainable societies are not isolated and separate, <br />but intertwined in fundamental ways. Never has the need to understand these connec- <br />tions been more important. And never has the need for effective and innovative <br />solutions been more urgent. <br />200 I is coming to an end. And despite these <br />terrible attacks, this year has been an exciting <br />and productive one for the Pacific Institute. <br />We continue to charge ahead, making dramatic <br />progress in several key areas. <br />Our Community Strategies program, under <br />the direction of Arlene Wong, continues to <br />expand its scope and influence. Our work with <br />local neighborhoods in Oakland to identify and publicize key environmental indica- <br />tors is attracting more and more attention as a model for community participation. <br />Thanks to the well publicized and largely unintentional efforts of President Bush, <br />the problems of global climate change have once again taken center stage. The <br />Institute has been working on this issue since 1987, playing a key role in identifying <br />impacts on water resources, recommending strategies for reducing those impacts, <br />publishing and distributing Global Change magazine (under the guidance of Insti- <br />tute associates Irving Mintzer and Amber Leonard), and maintaining one of the best <br />Websites on the subject (www.globalchange.org). <br />In recent months, largely at the urging of the Pacific Institute, the California <br />Department of Water Resources agreed for the first time to incorporate the problem <br />of climate change directly into the new California Water Plan. We are providing <br />scientific background, recommendations, and special testimony on the subject to the <br />California Assembly and Senate. <br /> <br />Never has the need to <br />understand the connections <br />between development, <br />environment, and security <br />been more important. <br /> <br />Continued on next page <br />