Bill McKibben is an environmentalist and writer who writes about global warming, alternative energy, and other related topics.  He is the author of 10 books, including Deep Economy and the influential The End of Nature.  His writings have also appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, Rolling Stone and other national publications.  Mr. McKibben lives with his family in Middlebury, Vermont and is currently a Scholar-in-Residence at Middlebury College.

Many of Mr. McKibben's observations are very thought-provoking and timely for communities that are seeking ways to be sustainable; for example, in Deep Economy he writes:

"Imagine all the south-facing roofs in your suburb sporting solar panels.  Imagine a building code that requires all new construction to come with solar roof tiles and solar shutters.  Imagine windmills scattered around town in the gustier spots and heat pumps for extracting energy from the earth.  Imagine all these pieces linked in a local grid, supplemented with small-scale fuel-burning power plants that produce not just electricity but heat that can be pumped back out to

local buildings."

At this Conference we anticipate from Mr. McKibben both an inspirational message of what he believes communities should consider and a pragmatic message of what communities can do now.