LITTLE ROCK — Former President Clinton urged a gathering of America's biggest philanthropists Monday to view economic, environmental and social challenges facing the world as an opportunity to make a difference.
Clinton spoke for about an hour at his library in Little Rock on the second day of a conference on philanthropy hosted by Slate magazine, which publishes an annual list of the 60 most generous Americans.
The former president said he was optimistic that climate change, poverty and ethno-religious tension could be overcome. If they aren't, "we'll reap the whirlwind," he said.
One solution is to tackle those problems in an interrelated way, he said, creating "green-collar" jobs as a way to bridge the inequality gap while preserving the environment.
Covering the roofs of buildings with sod, natural grasses and plants to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and energy bills, he said, also would foster job creation.
"If we green the roofs in Harlem, I'll be able to see who's doing it. They cannot be in India. Somebody's got to be on the roof," said Clinton, who has an office in New York City.
Injecting green technology into America's economic engine would be environmentally sound and keep the country competitive, he said.
"It's a totally underappreciated economic opportunity in America. You can't keep a richcountry strong and keep a middle-class lifestyle without a source of new jobs every five to eight years," he said.
Clinton's own charitable foundation launched a climate change initiative in August 2006. It also has provided AIDS treatment to more than 800,000 people in 71 countries, he said. He also touted the importance of battling health-care costs, noting that his foundation has tackled childhood obesity.
Despite people in the United States having an average life expectancy of 77.8 years, Clinton said gaps in the quality of health care between rich and poor and "wellness" issues like obesity could reverse a century-long trend of longer life spans.
"We're raising the first generation of kids who may have shorter life expectancies than their parents," he said.
Widening the circle of Americans invested in philanthropy also is crucial, he said, adding that every middle-school childshould be required to take part in a community service project. He praised Web sites like kiva.org for allowing anyone to give people in underdeveloped countries microloans of $25 to help them start their own businesses.
"It's expanding the definition of citizenship," he said.
The conference hosted panel discussions on global and rural philanthropy as well as forums on education and a conversation between Slate founding editor Michael Kinsley, now a columnist for Time magazine, and Michael J. Fox, who started a foundation for research into Parkinson's disease, which the screen and television actor was diagnosed with in 1991.
Published since 1996, this year's Slate 60 list will be printed in February.
In 2006, the top five philanthropic pledges on the list and their categories were Warren E. Buffett, investments, $43.5 billion; Herbert M. and Marion O. Sandler, finance and investments, $1.3 billion; Bernard and Barbara Osher, finance and investments, $732.2 million; Jim Joseph, real estate, $500 million; Hector Guy and Doris Di Stefano, family wealth, $264 million.
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