Legendary Environmentalist Lester Brown Presents Plan B 2.0 April 5, 2006

Rising temperatures. Falling water tables. Vanishing forests. Melting glaciers. Collapsing fisheries. The challenges mounting on the environmental front already threaten business as usual in the global economy. Add to these environmental stressors the peaking of oil production, population growth of 70 million people annually, growing demand for resources from China, and the spread of international terrorism and the result is what environmental activist Lester Brown calls "a civilization in trouble."In his latest book Plan B 2.0, Brown argues that we ignore nature's deadlines for dealing with environmental change at our peril. Outlining a rescue plan for the world economy, he asks what China's impact will be on the economy and environment of the 21st century. What is the relationship between poverty and the environment? How can we balance the short-term economic costs of rescuing the planet against the long-term costs of not doing so?



The Washington Post has called Lester Brown "one of the world's most influential thinkers." The recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including 20 honorary degrees, a MacArthur Fellowship, and the Blue Planet Prize, he founded both the Worldwatch Institute, the first research institute devoted to the analysis of global environmental issues and the Earth Policy Institute to provide a vision and a road map for achieving an environmentally sustainable economy. Brown has authored or co-authored 50 books; his 2001 Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth was hailed as "an instant classic" by E.O. Wilson. He followed it in 2003 with another path-breaking book Plan B: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble. His latest book is Plan B 2.0, a revised and expanded edition taking into account the developments--good and bad--of the intervening years.



Cambridge Forums are free and open to the public. Open discussion, moderated by Tim Weiskel, follows the presentation. Copies of Brown's book will be for sale courtesy of the Harvard Book Store. Events are taped and edited for public radio broadcast throughout the nation. Edited CDs are available to the public by contacting 617-495-2727. Select forums can be viewed in their entirety on demand by visiting our website at www.cambridgeforum.org and clicking on the WGBH Forum Network.