As of June 2013, he is Ecuador's State Secretary for the Presidential Initiative for the Construction of a Society of Good Life.

On 20 October 2002, Ehlers was elected as a member of the Andean Parliament for Ecuador with 20% of the votes as a representative of the Movimiento Cívico Nuevo País.

On 19 June 2013, his term as Minister of Tourism ended and he was named State Secretary for the Presidential Initiative for the Construction of a Society of Good Life.

[7] In his new capacity he started the television series Acuerdo para el buen vivir on 15 October 2014.

[9] In July 2015, opposition politicians sought to have Ehler's secretariat closed, with Andrés Páez [es] calling it "a symbol of obese bureaucracy".

[11] Ehlers received the Global 500 Roll of Honour by the UNEP in 1993 for his work in raising awareness amongst Ecuadorians for the environment.