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Bill McKibben
Environmental writer, educator, activist; Scholar-in-Residence, Middlebury College
Environmental writer, educator, activist; Scholar-in-Residence, Middlebury College
“I'll talk about my work with the largest of global issues and the smallest of local economies, and how these two are intimately related.”. Bill McKibben has been writing for over 25 years about global warming, alternative energy and the risks related to human genetic engineering. From his pioneering 1989 The End of Nature to his global look at 'people living more lightly on earth' (Hope, Human and Wild), McKibben's messages convey both the seriousness of our past actions and a hope for future community activism. Deep Economy, the first-year reading for all RIT freshmen, focuses on the current economic practices that fuel our society's unsustainable goals of 'More' and 'Better,' proposing that rediscovering the power of local economies can lead to a more satisfying, healthier, and sustainable lifestyle.
A legendary activist, McKibben led a 5-day walk across Vermont (Summer 2006) to demand action on global warming. On April 14, 2007, with 6 college students, he organized 1400 global warming demonstrations in 50 states. In January 2007 he founded stepitup07.org, which led to Fight Global Warming Now, an activist manual. Project 350 reflects his campaign to unite the world around the 'red line' number required to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. President of the Harvard Crimson newspaper in college, staff writer for the New Yorker ('Talk of the Town'), McKibben has held Guggenheim and Lyndhurst fellowships and won the Lannan Prize for nonfiction writing in 2000.
