Policy and a Pint : The Death of Environmentalism

St. Paul, Minn. — The Current and The Citizens League opened the 2007 season of Policy and a Pint with Michael Shellenberger, co-author of "Break Through." With Ted Nordhaus, Shellenberger stirred up controversy a few years ago when with an essay called "The Death of Environmentalism." They argued that the old ways of talking about pollution and acid rain wouldn't ever change how people go about their lives and that "environmentalism" had to die in order for real change to happen to protect our water, air and land.

Their new book expands on their original idea. They believe controlling global warming won't happen with more calls to end carbon emissions; instead, we need to come up with new models that take into account economics, job creation, and people's quality of life.

Michael Shellenberger