McKibben to speak on climate crisis Sat. Feb. 8

Nationally known climate activist and Vermont environmentalist Bill McKibben will speak on climate change and how we can play a part in minimizing the damage of a warming planet in his presentation Back to the Wall, Face to the Sun.

The talk, hosted by the Londonderry Conservation Commission, will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8 at Burr & Burton Mountain Campus, 3067 Hapgood Pond Road in Peru. The event is free and open to the public.

As we watch the worsening effects of climate change that are almost daily in the news — from uncontrollable forest fires in California to severe hurricanes, snowstorms in the South and, in Vermont, devastating floods that seem to happen yearly — it’s a prime time to consider our responses.

McKibben is an award winning environmentalist, educator, journalist and author of 20 books. Maryland U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin has called him a “moral visionary and activist.” McKibben has written extensively on the impact of global warming and the role of government policy.

He lives in the mountains above Lake Champlain with his wife, the writer Sue Halpern, where he spends as much time as possible outdoors.  According to his website, McKibben is the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College,  a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and he has won the Gandhi Peace Prize as well as honorary degrees from 20 colleges and universities.  Foreign Policy magazine named him to its inaugural list of the world’s 100 most important global thinkers.