Lester
Brown, called the “guru of the environmental movement,” will give the keynote
address at a one-day conference on “Sustainable Development: Balancing Growth,
Preservation and the Environment” on Friday, Feb. 25, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
at Union's College Park Hall (the former Ramada Inn) on Nott Street.
Brown, founder and
president of the Earth Policy Institute, also will give a pre-conference
talk on Thursday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. in Union College's
Nott Memorial. He will talk on his recent book, Plan B: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble.
The talk is free to the public.
James Howard Kunstler, author of The Geography of Nowhere and a renowned
lecturer on America's
man-made landscape, will speak at the conference on Friday, Feb. 25, at 1 p.m.
The one-day conference also will
feature a plenary session on “Balancing Regional Economic Growth, Community
Preservation and Environmental Protection” with regional planning, government
and economic development leaders; and a number of break-out sessions on topics
including smart growth, the costs of sprawl, storm water regulations and
comprehensive planning.
Brown is the author of 48 books
and numerous articles. The Washington Post called
him “one of the world's most influential thinkers.” The Telegraph
of Calcutta refers to him as “the guru of the
environmental movement.” In 1986, the Library of Congress requested his
personal papers noting that his writings “have already strongly affected
thinking about problems of world population and resources.”
Kunstler, who has also written Home From Nowhere and The City in Mind, is a frequent lecturer and presenter
at professional organizations. He has been called”one of the great
commentators on American space and place.”
The conference is co-sponsored by ECOS: The
Environmental Clearinghouse and the Union College Environmental Studies
Program. Additional sponsors are the League of Women Voters of Schenectady
County, Schenectady County Environmental Advisory Council, Social Action
Committee of the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, and the Environmental
Awareness Club of Union College.
“The impact of development on taxes, traffic, water
and air quality, open space and community character is of increasing concern to
residents and community decision makers,” said conference organizer Patrick
Clear, executive director of ECOS. “This conference will bring people together
and provide participants with information and tools they need to work toward
sustainable development in our region.”
Cost is $25 (including buffet lunch). Students are
free (lunch $10). Registration deadline is Feb. 18. For information, contact
ECOS at 370-4125 or ecos@global2000.net.