Date: October 13, 2010, 7:00 pm
Location: Englert Theatre

Bill McKibben, who has been called one of the nation’s leading environmentalists, will speak at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 13, at the Englert Theatre in downtown Iowa City.

McKibben’s lecture, “Creating a Sustainable World,” is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. After the lecture, McKibben will be signing copies of his book, Eaarth, which will be on sale.

“Bill McKibben has been talking and writing passionately about global climate change since the late 1980s. His inspiring and urgent call to action is something everyone should hear.”

—Liz Christiansen, director of the UI Office of Sustainability

McKibben’s appearance is sponsored by the University of Iowa Office of Sustainability in partnership with the UI Lecture Committee.

Known as one of the original climate change activists in America, McKibben published the first book for a general audience on the topic, The End of Nature, in 1989. His most recent book, Eaarth, continues this quest to raise awareness about the issues surrounding climate change.

McKibben cofounded 350.org, a campaign for international climate change and action at the local level. On Oct. 24, 2009, 350.org coordinated “the largest ever global coordinated rally of any kind,” according to Foreign Policy magazine. The campaign led to 5,200 simultaneous demonstrations in 181 countries focusing on climate change. This year, 350.org is organizing a Global Work Party on Oct. 10 (10/10/10) to encourage individual action.

Foreign Policy magazine named McKibben to its inaugural list of the 100 most important global thinkers, and MSN named him one of the dozen most influential men of 2009. In 2010 the Boston Globe called him “probably the nation’s leading environmentalist,” and Time magazine described him as “the world’s best green journalist.”

While in college, McKibben was president of the Harvard Crimson newspaper and upon graduation took a staff writer position with the New Yorker. McKibben is a contributor to several publications including the New York Times, the Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, Orion Magazine, Mother Jones, and Rolling Stone. He is a board member and contributor to Grist Magazine.

He has been awarded Guggenheim and Lyndhurst Fellowships, and won the Lannan Prize for nonfiction writing in 2000. McKibben is currently a Scholar in Residence at Middlebury College in Maine.

“Bill McKibben has been talking and writing passionately about global climate change since the late 1980s. His inspiring and urgent call to action is something everyone should hear,” says Liz Christiansen, director of the UI Office of Sustainability. “The University of Iowa is known for being a leader in building renewable energies. Our goals for the next 10 years address reducing our carbon footprint by conserving energy and continuing the transition to renewable energy sources.”

For more information on the lecture see sustainability.uiowa.edu. See www.billmckibben.com for more about McKibben and his work.