Harvard Book Store and The Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics (ELSCE) welcome Benji Backer—founder and executive chairman of the American Conservation Coalition—for a discussion of his new book The Conservative Environmentalist: Common Sense Solutions for a Sustainable Future. He will be joined in conversation by Christopher Robichaud—Senior Lecturer in Ethics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Director of Pedagogy and Civil Disagreement at the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics. Registration is not required.
This event is part ELSCE's Ethics in Your World book talks series featuring leading thinkers taking on tough problems that matter to us all.
Politicians, pseudo-experts, and other partisans have led us to believe that there are only two approaches to climate change: doomerism or denial. Benji Backer, Founder and Executive Chairman of the American Conservation Coalition, argues that both are dead ends. In The Conservative Environmentalist, he delivers an entirely new strategy to take care of the planet while putting put the economic interest of the American people first.
Backer makes the compelling case that conservative principles are the key to climate solutions that actually work. In this book, you’ll visit the country’s most diverse ecosystems and consequential manufacturing hubs—from Utah coal mines and Texas oil fields to Louisiana wetlands and Rhode Island offshore wind farms—witnessing the power of individual entrepreneurship and local problem-solving. You’ll be inspired by groundbreaking efforts to strengthen earth’s ecosystems (that Green New Dealers and other Big Government advocates would prefer to keep hidden), like partnerships between oil and gas companies and environmental nonprofits to preserve thousands of acres of wetlands.
Drawing on cutting-edge science, a deep understanding of local community needs, and his experience rallying politicians on both sides of the aisle to take action, Backer offers hope for everyone who cares about the state of the great outdoors. Fascinating, clear-headed, and full of surprises, The Conservative Environmentalist is the fresh, audacious approach needed to ensure a sustainable future, and particularly one that works for America.
"An essential read that shows how protecting our natural resources and advancing America's national interests are mutually reinforcing goals." —Arnold Schwarzenegger, former governor of California and author of Be Useful
“The Conservative Environmentalist is a critical blueprint for the future of climate action. An indispensable resource for all Americans who yearn for a cleaner, safer planet.” —Van Jones, CNN host and New York Times bestselling author
“Amid the divisive and unproductive climate change discussion, The Conservative Environmentalist is an essential guide for what must be done now to ensure a much better tomorrow.”—Jeremy Jones, professional snowboarder and founder of Protect Our Winters
Benji Backer is the founder and executive chairman of the American Conservation Coalition (ACC), the largest right-of-center environmental organization in the country. For his work spearheading the ACC, he has been named to the Fortune 40 Under 40, Forbes 30 Under 30, GreenBiz 30 Under 30, and Grist 50 lists. A frequent contributor to national media outlets, he’s become one of the leading environmental voices in the United States. Above all, Backer is an avid outdoorsman who spends most of his free time in the mountains out West.
Christopher Robichaud is Senior Lecturer in Ethics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Director of Pedagogy and Civil Disagreement at the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics. He received his doctorate in philosophy from MIT. His interests surround ethics, political philosophy, and social epistemology, with a focus on examining the role of truth and knowledge in well-functioning democracies, and on understanding what the post-truth age of politcs is. Dr. Robichaud's work at the Harvard Kennedy School focuses primarily on developing ethics pedagogy for professional policymakers. Dr. Robichaud is also dedicated to bringing philosophical ideas to a wider audience, and pursues this goal by looking at issues in moral and political philosophy that arise in pop culture stories, especially superhero narratives. He is currently under contract with Harvard University Press to write a book of public philosophy that interrogates superhero characters and stories. He has also contributed online content to the EdX Smithsonian course, "The Rise of Superheroes and Their Impact on Pop Culture" and has developed a new joint Smithsonian-Harvard EdX course, "Power and Responsibility: Doing Philosophy with Superheroes," which launched in the spring of 2017.
LOCATION:Harvard Book Store 1256 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20240920T190000Z DTEND:20240920T190000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR