Lester Brown

<div>=</div><div><a href="https://kpfa.org/episode/exploration-august-28-2018/">https://kpfa.org/episode/exploration-august-28-2018/</a></div><div>
</div><div>2 pm whole hr</div><div>Environmentalist Lester Brown on the fate the earth.Hosted by Dr. Michio Kaku.</div><div>restructure tax: down income up carbon</div><div>
</div><div>mkt fix but mkt must be honest</div><div></div><div>Lester Russel Brown (born March 28, 1934) is a United States <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_analysis" title="Environmental analysis" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">environmental analyst</a>, founder of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldwatch_Institute" title="Worldwatch Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Worldwatch Institute</a>, and founder and former president of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Policy_Institute" title="Earth Policy Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Earth Policy Institute</a>, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonprofit_organization" title="Nonprofit organization" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">nonprofit</a> research organization based in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,D.C." title="Washington, D.C." style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Washington, D.C.</a> BBC Radio commentator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Day(BBC_broadcaster)" class="mw-redirect" title="Peter Day (BBC broadcaster)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Peter Day</a> referred to him as "one of the great pioneer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmentalist" title="Environmentalist" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">environmentalists</a>."</div>Brown is the author or co-author of over 50 books on global environmental issues and his works have been translated into more than forty languages. His most recent book is <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.earth-policy.org/press_room/C68/market_forces_driving_great_transition_to_clean_energy_says_new_book" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%2212%22 height=%2212%22%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 stroke=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M1.5 4.518h5.982V10.5H1.5z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M5.765 1H11v5.39L9.427 7.937l-1.31-1.31L5.393 9.35l-2.69-2.688 2.81-2.808L4.2 2.544z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 d=%22M9.995 2.004l.022 4.885L8.2 5.07 5.32 7.95 4.09 6.723l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); padding-right: 13px;">The Great Transition: Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy</a> (2015), in which he explains that the global economy is now undergoing a transition from fossil and nuclear energy to clean power from solar, wind, and other renewable sources.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-transition-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a> His previous book was Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity(2012).<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a>Brown emphasizes the geopolitical effects of fast-rising grain prices,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a> noting that "the biggest threat to global stability is the potential for food crises in poor countries," and one that could "bring down civilization."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-SciAm-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a> In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Policy" title="Foreign Policy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Foreign Policy</a> magazine, he describes how the "new geopolitics of food" has, in 2011, already begun to contribute to revolutions and upheaval in various countries.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-FP-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a>The recipient of 26 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorary_degree" title="Honorary degree" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">honorary degrees</a> and a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Fellowship" class="mw-redirect" title="MacArthur Fellowship" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">MacArthur Fellowship</a>, Brown has been described by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Post" class="mw-redirect" title="Washington Post" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Washington Post</a> as "one of the world's most influential thinkers." As early as 1978, in his book The Twenty-Ninth Day, he was already warning of "the various dangers arising out of our manhandling of nature...by overfishing the oceans, stripping the forests, turning land into desert."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a> In 1986, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Congress" title="Library of Congress" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Library of Congress</a> requested his personal papers noting that his writings "have already strongly affected thinking about problems of world population and resources," while president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton" title="Bill Clinton" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Bill Clinton</a> has suggested that "we should all heed his advice."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a> In 2003 he was one of the signers of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism_and_Its_Aspirations" title="Humanism and Its Aspirations" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Humanist Manifesto</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a>In the mid-1970s, Brown helped pioneer the concept of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development" title="Sustainable development" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">sustainable development</a>, during a career that started with farming. Since then, he has been the recipient of many prizes and awards, including, the 1987 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">United Nations</a> Environment Prize, the 1989 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Fund_for_Nature" title="World Wide Fund for Nature" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">World Wide Fund for Nature</a> Gold Medal, and the 1994 Blue Planet Prize for his "contributions to solving global environmental problems." In 1995, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquis_Who%27s_Who" title="Marquis Who's Who" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Marquis Who's Who</a> selected Brown as one of its "50 Great Americans." He was recently awarded the Presidential Medal of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy" title="Italy" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Italy</a> and was appointed an honorary professor at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Academy_of_Sciences" title="Chinese Academy of Sciences" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a>. He lives in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,D.C." title="Washington, D.C." style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Washington, D.C.</a> and retired in June 2015.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="direction: ltr; position: absolute; opacity: 0; display: none;" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;">
</div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#Early_life" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1Early life</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#Education" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2Education</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#Career_as_environmental_activist" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3Career as environmental activist</a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#Primary_concerns" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.1Primary concerns</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#Environmentalist_and_author" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4Environmentalist and author</a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#Issuing_warnings" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4.1Issuing warnings</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#Offering_solutions" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4.2Offering solutions</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#Books(selection)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5Books (selection)</a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#Who_Will_Feed_China?" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5.1Who Will Feed China?</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#Outgrowing_the_Earth" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5.2Outgrowing the Earth</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#Plan_B_4.0" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5.3Plan B 4.0</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#Breaking_New_Ground:A_Personal_History" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5.4Breaking New Ground: A Personal History</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#The_Great_Transition:Shifting_from_Fossil_Fuels_to_Solar_and_Wind_Energy(2015)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5.5The Great Transition: Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy (2015)</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#Awards_and_recognition" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6Awards and recognition</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#Bibliography" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7Bibliography</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">8References</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-17" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">9External links</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Early life[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lester_R.Brown&action=edit&section=1&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Early life" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>Brown was born and raised on a farm without running water or electricity in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgeton,New_Jersey" title="Bridgeton, New Jersey" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bridgeton</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey" title="New Jersey" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">New Jersey</a> near the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware_River" title="Delaware River" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Delaware River</a>. He learned to read early and was a voracious reader. He was fascinated by World War II and would borrow day-old papers from the next door farm to follow it. He especially enjoyed reading biographies including those of America's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_Fathers" class="mw-redirect" title="Founding Fathers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">founding fathers</a> and others such as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, and Marie Curie. From his earliest years, he worked on the farm, milking cows, pulling weeds, and cleaning the stable. An enterprising youth, he involved his younger brother, Carl, in various businesses, such as growing pheasants and chickens for sale. In 1951, they started a tomato growing business, which eventually grew to become one of New Jersey's largest, with sales of over 1,520,000 pounds (690,000 kg) a year. He later said, "farming is all I ever wanted to do with all my life. You have to know soils, weather, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_pathology" title="Plant pathology" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">plant pathology</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomology" title="Entomology" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">entomology</a>, management, even politics. It's the ideal interdisciplinary profession."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-DeLeon-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Education[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lester_R.Brown&action=edit&section=2&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Education" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>Shortly after earning a degree in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_science" title="Agricultural science" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">agricultural science</a> from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutgers_University" title="Rutgers University" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rutgers University</a> in 1955, through the International Farm Youth Exchange Program, he spent six months living in rural <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">India</a> where he became intimately familiar with food and population issues. "His experiences in Indian villages changed his life," wrote biographer David De Leon. "Although he went back to growing tomatoes when he returned to the United States, this no longer seemed like exciting work." <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-DeLeon-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a>Brown decided that to work on the global food issue, he would need to work for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.Department_of_Agriculture" class="mw-redirect" title="U.S. Department of Agriculture" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a>'s (USDA) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Agricultural_Service" title="Foreign Agricultural Service" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Foreign Agricultural Service</a> (FAS).<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-EPI-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a> He learned that before they would hire him, he needed to have a degree in agricultural economics. Brown took nine months to earn a master's degree in agricultural economics from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Maryland,College_Park" title="University of Maryland, College Park" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">University of Maryland</a> and in 1959 joined FAS as an international agricultural analyst in the Asia branch. A year or so later, he took a nine-month leave to earn a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Public_Administration" title="Master of Public Administration" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">master of public administration</a> from the Harvard Graduate School of Public Administration which was later to become the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F.Kennedy_School_of_Government" title="John F. Kennedy School of Government" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">John F. Kennedy School of Government</a>.In 1963, just four years later, he published Man, Land and Food, the first comprehensive projection of world food, population, and land resources to the end of the century. The study was a cover story in the January 6, 1963 issue of U.S. News & World Report where it came to the attention of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_Agriculture" title="United States Secretary of Agriculture" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Secretary of Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orville_Freeman" title="Orville Freeman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Orville Freeman</a>. Freeman appreciated Brown's bold analysis and offered him a job on his staff, saying "you sketched the problems. Now you have to do something about them." <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-DeLeon-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a> He was soon elevated to being the resident specialist on global issues. In this capacity, he advised the secretary of agriculture on his overseas agricultural policies. He also headed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USDA" class="mw-redirect" title="USDA" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">USDA</a>'s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Agricultural_Service#FAS.27_Return_to_International_Development_and_National_Security" title="Foreign Agricultural Service" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">International Agricultural Development Service</a> from 1966 to 1969. His primary job was to "increase food production in underdeveloped countries." <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-DeLeon-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a>In early 1969, he left government to help establish the Overseas Development Council. He also became an enthusiastic believer in the promise of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution" title="Green Revolution" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Green Revolution</a>, with the hope of using better seeds and cultivation methods to help solve global problems of poverty and hunger. In his opinion, "this technology was the most crucial historical event since the steam engine."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-DeLeon-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a> In subsequent years, however, he realized that rapid population growth in undeveloped countries was overwhelming the gains in increased food production.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-SciAm-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Career as environmental activist[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lester_R.Brown&action=edit&section=3&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Career as environmental activist" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto;"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 222px;">
<div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lester_Brown,2009(cropped).jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 viewBox=%220 0 11 15%22 width=%2215%22 height=%2211%22%3E %3Cg id=%22magnify-clip%22 fill=%22%23fff%22 stroke=%22%23000%22%3E %3Cpath id=%22bigbox%22 d=%22M1.509 1.865h10.99v7.919h-10.99z%22/%3E %3Cpath id=%22smallbox%22 d=%22M-1.499 6.868h5.943v4.904h-5.943z%22/%3E %3C/g%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-position-x: initial, initial; background-position-y: initial, initial; background-size: initial, initial; background-repeat: repeat, repeat; background-attachment: initial, initial; background-origin: initial, initial; background-clip: initial, initial; display: block; text-indent: 15px; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; width: 15px; height: 11px; user-select: none;" /></div>Lester Brown in 2009.</div></div></div>In 1974, with support of a $500,000 grant from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_Brothers_Fund" title="Rockefeller Brothers Fund" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Rockefeller Brothers Fund</a>, Brown founded the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldwatch_Institute" title="Worldwatch Institute" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Worldwatch Institute</a>, the first research institute devoted to the analysis of global environmental issues. While there he launched the Worldwatch Papers, the annual <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_the_World(book_series)" title="State of the World (book series)" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">State of the World</a> reports, World Watch magazine, a second annual entitled Vital Signs: The Trends That are Shaping Our Future, and the Environmental Alert book series. According to De Leon, "he gathered a staff of young idealists just out of college. They were expected to be 'professional generalists,' rather than narrow specialists with advanced degrees."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-DeLeon-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a>The institute eventually became noted for being an independent and respected <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tank" title="Think tank" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">think tank</a> focusing on environmental issues and also a storehouse for a large amount of environmental information. Their goal is to educate the public and government about environmental problems and to recommend actions. The institute has refused to become a lobbying organization, with Brown saying, "the world is filled with specialists who dig deep burrows into the earth and bring up these nuggets of insight, but there's no one up on top pulling it all together. That's our job."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-DeLeon-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a> As a result, he has been described as "one of the world's most influential thinkers" and was granted a $250,000 "genius award" by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Foundation" title="MacArthur Foundation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">MacArthur Foundation</a> in 1986.In 2001, he left Worldwatch Institute to establish the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Policy_Institute" title="Earth Policy Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Earth Policy Institute</a>, devoted to providing a plan to save civilization. At the Institute, his years of working on global issues through an interdisciplinary lens has enabled him to identify trends those working in specialized areas might not see. They have also allowed him to consider global solutions to the many environmental concerns of today. Some of the more important works Brown has written at the Institute include World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse (2011), Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth (2001), and the Plan B series. His most recent book is The Great Transition: Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy (2015) co-authored with Janet Larsen, J. Matthew Roney, and Emily E. Adams.On June 30, 2015, he officially retired and closed the Earth Policy Institute. His legacies will live on through a Lester R. Brown Reading Room at Rutgers University (his alma mater). The room will house the collection of his books along with their translations, honorary degrees, and awards. His electronic collection of presentations, radio and television interviews, and documentaries in which he is featured will be accessioned into the Rutgers University library system. Rutgers is also hosting the Earth Policy Institute's website so that the information remains available.The Library of Congress is receiving his personal papers from his early years, through his career spanning the United States Department of Agriculture, the Overseas Development Council, Worldwatch Institute, and the Earth Policy Institute."Lester Brown is one of the most important voices in the world, regarding the creation of a new conscience of humanity toward a sustainable society." -Jose Jaime Maussan"Keep up the good work! Some of us are getting in the habit of relying on you all for valuable information and solid analysis." –Eric Britton, The New Mobility Agenda"…a small think tank with a knack of spotting new trends…" –Geoffrey Lean, Telegraph <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/author/geoffreylean/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%2212%22 height=%2212%22%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 stroke=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M1.5 4.518h5.982V10.5H1.5z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M5.765 1H11v5.39L9.427 7.937l-1.31-1.31L5.393 9.35l-2.69-2.688 2.81-2.808L4.2 2.544z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 d=%22M9.995 2.004l.022 4.885L8.2 5.07 5.32 7.95 4.09 6.723l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); padding-right: 13px;">[2]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Primary concerns</h3>The following have been consistent themes in Brown's work over the years:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-Mobilizing-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_control" title="Population control" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Population control</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_reduction" class="mw-redirect" title="Immigration reduction" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Immigration reduction</a> (to achieve U.S. population stabilization)</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming" title="Global warming" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Global warming</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Protection of world's croplands</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_erosion" title="Soil erosion" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Soil erosion</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation" title="Deforestation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Deforestation</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_resources" title="Water resources" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Water resources</a> depletion</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Melting <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaciers" class="mw-redirect" title="Glaciers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">glaciers</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Decreasing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquifer" title="Aquifer" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">groundwaters</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Energy depletion</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil" title="Peak oil" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Peak oil</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_conservation" title="Energy conservation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Energy conservation</a> and sustainability</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy" title="Renewable energy" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Renewable energy</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Garbage reduction and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling" title="Recycling" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">recycling</a>.</li></ul><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Environmentalist and author[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lester_R.Brown&action=edit&section=5&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Environmentalist and author" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Issuing warnings[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lester_R.Brown&action=edit&section=6&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Issuing warnings" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>After a talk at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catawba_College" title="Catawba College" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Catawba College</a> in 2008, the college newspaper referred to him as an "environmental <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Revere" title="Paul Revere" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Paul Revere</a>," [as] he warned his audience that "unless civilization changes its ways, its end is truly near... we're in a race between natural <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipping_point(climatology)" title="Tipping point (climatology)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">tipping points</a> and political tipping points, - 'what we need most of all is for the market to tell the environmental truth.' " He added, "We don't need to go beyond our <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier" title="Glacier" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">ice melts</a> to know that we're in trouble. How much are we willing to spend to avoid a 23 foot rise in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_level" title="Sea level" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">sea level</a>?" He explained that "indirect costs are shaping our future," and by ignoring these, "we're doing exactly the same thing as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron" title="Enron" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Enron</a>- leaving costs off the books. Consuming today with no concern for tomorrow is not a winning philosophy." He spoke of rapid population growth, deforestation, and "two new stresses – rising food and oil prices." "As oil prices go up, grain prices will follow," he said.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-Catawba-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Offering solutions[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lester_R.Brown&action=edit&section=7&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Offering solutions" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>In 2001 Brown suggested a "tax shifting" structure which would reduce income taxes and offsett them with taxes on environmentally destructive activities such as carbon emissions. It would lead to an "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honest_market" class="mw-redirect" title="Honest market" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">honest market</a>, he said, by adding a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_tax" title="Carbon tax" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">tax on carbon</a> to pay for the hidden costs of climate change. It would also account for the environmental costs of things such toxic waste, the overuse of raw materials, mercury emissions, the generation of garbage, the use of pesticides, and the use of throwaway products such as plastic bottles, all activities that would be discouraged by taxing.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a> He says that by keeping such environmental costs "off the books," and thereby hidden, society risks the same fate as a large company such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron" title="Enron" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Enron</a>, which failed immediately after auditors learned they had kept major costs off their books.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a>Brown subsequently added that such a tax shift would amount to an "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honest_market" class="mw-redirect" title="Honest market" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">honest market</a>," explaining, "The key to restructuring the economy is the creation of an honest market, one that tells the ecological truth."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a> In 2011 he estimated the cost of such a tax shift, including the effects of better technology, the use of renewables and "updating the concept of national security."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a>In December 2008, Brown presented ways of creating new jobs by public investment in both the renewable energy industry and in energy efficiency technology. He gave growth statistics along with the calculated number of jobs that would be created:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-Brown1208-18" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[18]</a><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%225%22 height=%2213%22%3E %3Ccircle cx=%222.5%22 cy=%229.5%22 r=%222.5%22 fill=%22%2300528c%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">The renewable energy industry - wind, solar, geothermal - are expanding by over 30 percent yearly;</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">There are now, in the U.S., 24,000 megawatts of wind generating capacity online, but there is "a staggering 225,000 megawatts of "planned wind farms";</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Every billion dollars invested in wind farms creates 3,350 jobs - nearly four times the number created from coal plants;</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">A billion dollars invested in solar creates 1,480 jobs;</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">What is needed is a World War II-type mobilization to produce electric-powered cars that will operate at an equivalent gas cost of $1 per gallon (Replacing each SUV with a plug-in hybrid could save $20,000 of oil imports over its lifetime);</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">"The U.S. goal for Detroit should be not merely to save it but make it the world leader...";</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">A $500 billion investment in clean and renewable energy systems would create 3 million new jobs that would last through 2020;</li></ul>He notes that "historically, it is rare for so many emerging threats to have a common solution."<h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Books (selection)[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lester_R.Brown&action=edit&section=8&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Books (selection)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 197px;">
<div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Title_Page_of_Full_Planet,Empty_Plates.the_Geopolitics_of_Food_Scarcity.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 viewBox=%220 0 11 15%22 width=%2215%22 height=%2211%22%3E %3Cg id=%22magnify-clip%22 fill=%22%23fff%22 stroke=%22%23000%22%3E %3Cpath id=%22bigbox%22 d=%22M1.509 1.865h10.99v7.919h-10.99z%22/%3E %3Cpath id=%22smallbox%22 d=%22M-1.499 6.868h5.943v4.904h-5.943z%22/%3E %3C/g%3E %3C/svg%3E"); display: block; text-indent: 15px; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; width: 15px; height: 11px; user-select: none;" /></div>Full Planet, Empty Plates(2012).</div></div></div>Brown has authored or co-authored over 50 books. which have appeared in some 40 languages. Among his earlier books are Man, Land and Food, World Without Borders, and Building a Sustainable Society. His 1995 book Who Will Feed China? challenged the official view of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">China</a>'s food prospect, spawning many conferences and seminars.[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">citation needed</a>]In May 2001, he founded the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Policy_Institute" title="Earth Policy Institute" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Earth Policy Institute</a> to provide a vision and a road map for achieving an environmentally sustainable economy. In November 2001, he published Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth, which was hailed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.O.Wilson" class="mw-redirect" title="E.O. Wilson" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">E.O. Wilson</a> as "an instant classic." In 2009 he published <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.earth-policy.org/books/pb4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%2212%22 height=%2212%22%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 stroke=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M1.5 4.518h5.982V10.5H1.5z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M5.765 1H11v5.39L9.427 7.937l-1.31-1.31L5.393 9.35l-2.69-2.688 2.81-2.808L4.2 2.544z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 d=%22M9.995 2.004l.022 4.885L8.2 5.07 5.32 7.95 4.09 6.723l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); padding-right: 13px;" /><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.earth-policy.org/books/pb4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%2212%22 height=%2212%22%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 stroke=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M1.5 4.518h5.982V10.5H1.5z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M5.765 1H11v5.39L9.427 7.937l-1.31-1.31L5.393 9.35l-2.69-2.688 2.81-2.808L4.2 2.544z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 d=%22M9.995 2.004l.022 4.885L8.2 5.07 5.32 7.95 4.09 6.723l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); padding-right: 13px;">Plan B 4.0</a> and in 2011 <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.earth-policy.org/books/wote" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%2212%22 height=%2212%22%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 stroke=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M1.5 4.518h5.982V10.5H1.5z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M5.765 1H11v5.39L9.427 7.937l-1.31-1.31L5.393 9.35l-2.69-2.688 2.81-2.808L4.2 2.544z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 d=%22M9.995 2.004l.022 4.885L8.2 5.07 5.32 7.95 4.09 6.723l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); padding-right: 13px;">World on the Edge</a>. In 2012 he published <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.earth-policy.org/books/fpep" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 width=%2212%22 height=%2212%22%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 stroke=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M1.5 4.518h5.982V10.5H1.5z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%2336c%22 d=%22M5.765 1H11v5.39L9.427 7.937l-1.31-1.31L5.393 9.35l-2.69-2.688 2.81-2.808L4.2 2.544z%22/%3E %3Cpath fill=%22%23fff%22 d=%22M9.995 2.004l.022 4.885L8.2 5.07 5.32 7.95 4.09 6.723l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z%22/%3E %3C/svg%3E"); padding-right: 13px;">Full Planet, Empty Plates</a>.<h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Who Will Feed China?[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lester_R.Brown&action=edit&section=9&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Who Will Feed China?" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>In this book, published in 1995, Brown highlights the pressure on world resources as more countries, especially China, become developed. He writes, "To feed its 1.2 billion people, China may soon have to import so much grain that this action could trigger unprecedented rises in world food prices."In February 2014, he updated that forecast stating that China had since become a leading world grain importer, "set to buy a staggering 22 million tons" in the 2013-2014 trade year and their grain use climbing by 17 million tons per year.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-19" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[19]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Outgrowing the Earth[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lester_R.Brown&action=edit&section=10&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Outgrowing the Earth" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>This book, published in 2004, is a more recent description of "the ways in which human demands are outstripping the earth's natural capacities, and how the resulting environmental damage is undermining food production on a global scale. He documents that the decrease of crop production is due to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming" title="Global warming" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">global warming</a>, water shortages, decreasing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cropland" class="mw-redirect" title="Cropland" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">cropland</a> in developing countries like China, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth" title="Population growth" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">population growth</a> that is still increasing world population by 76 million each year.<h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Plan B 4.0[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lester_R.Brown&action=edit&section=11&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Plan B 4.0" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>This book, published in 2009, continues the themes of his earlier books, and is written as a final warning call for the leaders of the world to begin "mobilizing to save civilization" and stresses even more that time is of the essence.At <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_University,Chico" title="California State University, Chico" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">California State University, Chico</a>, Plan B has become "required reading for all incoming freshmen." The university says that it is being used in many courses in History, English, Philosophy, Communications, Political and Social Science.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-20" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[20]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Breaking New Ground: A Personal History[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lester_R.Brown&action=edit&section=12&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Breaking New Ground: A Personal History" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>In the fall of 2013, Brown published his autobiography. In Breaking New Ground, Brown details the seminal events of his life that led him to establish the first research institute devoted to an interdisciplinary analysis of global environmental issues. Of the book, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Orr" title="David Orr" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">David Orr</a> said, This is the life story of a true American hero . . . as a scientist and public intellectual dedicated to the cause of sustainability Lester Brown is in a class by himself.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Suzuki" title="David Suzuki" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">David Suzuki</a> said, Lester Brown is one of humanity's great eco-warriors, constantly updating the state of the planet while ceaselessly seeking solutions and a path to sustainability. Breaking New Ground is an inspirational story of what one person is capable of achieving. Every aspiring activist will find much to learn from Lester Brown's life story.<h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">The Great Transition: Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy (2015)</h3><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 214px;">
<div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Title_Page_of_The_Great_Transition_Shifting_from_Fossil_Fuels_to_Wind_and_Solar_Energy.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 viewBox=%220 0 11 15%22 width=%2215%22 height=%2211%22%3E %3Cg id=%22magnify-clip%22 fill=%22%23fff%22 stroke=%22%23000%22%3E %3Cpath id=%22bigbox%22 d=%22M1.509 1.865h10.99v7.919h-10.99z%22/%3E %3Cpath id=%22smallbox%22 d=%22M-1.499 6.868h5.943v4.904h-5.943z%22/%3E %3C/g%3E %3C/svg%3E"); display: block; text-indent: 15px; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; width: 15px; height: 11px; user-select: none;" /></div>The Great Transition (2015).</div></div></div>The book covers the rapid growth of global energy revolution using renewable sources. Countries are replacing coal and nuclear power as their energy sources and moving toward renewable energies. While solar energy was originally developed for small-scale residential use, today major utility-scale solar projects<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-21" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[21]</a> are being built globally. Single wind farm complexes<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-22" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[22]</a> in some countries will produce as much electricity as several nuclear power plants. New transport systems in countries like China are also relying on electricity,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-23" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[23]</a>while more people use bicycles for local commuting.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-24" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[24]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown#cite_note-25" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[25]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Awards and recognition</h2><div>...</div><div></div><div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="CAkQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQFSgAMAB6BAgJEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Outgrowing-Earth-Security-Challenge-Temperatures/dp/0393327256" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/Outgrowing-Earth-Security-Challenge-Temperatures/dp/0393327256&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQFjAAegQICRAB" style="cursor: pointer;">Outgrowing the Earth: The Food Security Challenge in an Age of ...</a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f hJND5c TbwUpd" style="margin-top: 1px; height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><cite class="iUh30" style="font-style: normal; margin-top: 1px;">https://www.amazon.com/Outgrowing-Earth-Security-Challenge.../dp/0393327256</cite><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+fate+the+earth+book&oq=Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+fate+the+earth+book&aqs=chrome..69i57.3112j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#" id="am-b0" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQ7B0wAHoECAkQAg" style="border-radius: 0px; 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position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:O45MnRUvdQYJ:https://www.amazon.com/Outgrowing-Earth-Security-Challenge-Temperatures/dp/0393327256+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:O45MnRUvdQYJ:https://www.amazon.com/Outgrowing-Earth-Security-Challenge-Temperatures/dp/0393327256%2B%26cd%3D1%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQIDAAegQICRAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://www.amazon.com/Outgrowing-Earth-Security-Challenge-Temperatures/dp/0393327256+Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+fate+the+earth+book&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQHzAAegQICRAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://www.amazon.com/Outgrowing-Earth-Security-Challenge-Temperatures/dp/0393327256+Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+fate+the+earth+book&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQHzAAegQICRAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">Lester R. Brown is the founder of the Earth Policy and Worldwatch Institutes. He has ... the United Nations Environment Prize, and twenty-five honorary degrees.</a></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="CAcQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQFSgAMAF6BAgHEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/World-Edge-Environmental-Economic-Collapse/dp/0393339491" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/World-Edge-Environmental-Economic-Collapse/dp/0393339491&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQFjABegQIBxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and ... - Amazon.com</a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f hJND5c TbwUpd" style="margin-top: 1px; height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><cite class="iUh30" style="font-style: normal; margin-top: 1px;">https://www.amazon.com/World-Edge-Environmental-Economic.../dp/0393339491</cite><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+fate+the+earth+book&oq=Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+fate+the+earth+book&aqs=chrome..69i57.3112j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#" id="am-b1" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQ7B0wAXoECAcQAg" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.5px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQqR8wAXoECAcQAw" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:rKYArTNzdHMJ:https://www.amazon.com/World-Edge-Environmental-Economic-Collapse/dp/0393339491+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:rKYArTNzdHMJ:https://www.amazon.com/World-Edge-Environmental-Economic-Collapse/dp/0393339491%2B%26cd%3D2%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQIDABegQIBxAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://www.amazon.com/World-Edge-Environmental-Economic-Collapse/dp/0393339491+Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+fate+the+earth+book&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQHzABegQIBxAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://www.amazon.com/World-Edge-Environmental-Economic-Collapse/dp/0393339491+Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+fate+the+earth+book&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQHzABegQIBxAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">In this urgent time, World on the Edge calls out the pivotal environmental issues and ... These are some of the issues Lester R. Brown skillfully distills in World on the Edge. ... Lester R. Brown is the founder of the Earth Policy and Worldwatch Institutes. ... You don't have to be a scientist to understand Mr. Brown's books, just ...</a><div class="TXwUJf"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://www.amazon.com/World-Edge-Environmental-Economic-Collapse/dp/0393339491+Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+fate+the+earth+book&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQHzABegQIBxAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">Missing: <s>fate</s> ‎| ‎Must include: ‎</a><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+%22fate%22+the+earth+book&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQ5t4CMAF6BAgHEAc" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer;">fate</a></div></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="CAgQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQFSgAMAJ6BAgIEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQFjACegQICBAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Lester R. Brown - Wikipedia</a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f hJND5c TbwUpd" style="margin-top: 1px; height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><cite class="iUh30" style="font-style: normal; margin-top: 1px;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown</cite><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+fate+the+earth+book&oq=Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+fate+the+earth+book&aqs=chrome..69i57.3112j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#" id="am-b2" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQ7B0wAnoECAgQAg" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.5px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQqR8wAnoECAgQAw" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:7jxFKc4MD5wJ:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:7jxFKc4MD5wJ:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQIDACegQICBAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown+Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+fate+the+earth+book&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQHzACegQICBAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown+Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+fate+the+earth+book&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQHzACegQICBAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">Lester Russel Brown (born March 28, 1934) is a United States environmental analyst, founder ...Brown is the author or co-author of over 50 books on global environmental issues and his works have .... In 2001, he left Worldwatch Institute to establish the Earth Policy Institute, devoted to providing a plan to save civilization.</a></div></div></div></div></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_R.Brown+Environmentalist+Lester+Brown+on+the+fate+the+earth+book&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirhNKc2ZDdAhULWK0KHe3YDTkQHzACegQICBAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"></a></div>