Bill McKibben

Over the past three decades, Bill McKibben has shaped public perception—and public action—on climate change, alternative energy, and the need for localized economies. An environmental activist, bestselling author, and "the planet's best green journalist" (TIME), McKibben is the founder of 350.org, the massive grassroots climate change initiative. 
 
Bill McKibben is a recipient of the Gandhi Peace Award (first awarded to Eleanor Roosevelt), the Thomas Merton Award, and the Sofie Prize. His ongoing work in spearheading the Keystone pipeline fight—including a 12,000 person protest outside the White House—has turned into America’s biggest environmental battle in a generation. McKibben's seminal work includes The End of Nature, widely seen as the first book on climate change for a general audience, and Deep Economy, a bold challenge to move beyond "growth" as the paramount economic ideal and to pursue prosperity in a more local direction—an idea that is the cornerstone of much sustainability discourse today. His most recent books include Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist and Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet. A former New Yorker staff writer, McKibben is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, Harper's, Mother Jones, and Outside. He has been awarded both the Guggenheim and Lyndhurst Fellowships, as well as the Lannan Prize for nonfiction writing.