Alex Steffen: Building a Planet with a Future

At the Copenhagen climate summit in December, the world's leaders will try to reach agreement on a path to a climate-safe future. As debate rages about how to lift the developing world out of poverty while redefining affluence on dramatically more sustainable lines, Alex Steffen's answers are increasingly influential. Steffen, the Seattle-based editor of the instrumental sustainability site Worldchanging.com, has become one of the world's leading thinkers on the planetary future, and his ideas on "bright green" environmentalismsustainable, dynamic, prosperous, and fairhave a wide following in Northern Europe. Steffen will be keynote speaker at three of the major events during the Copenhagen summit, but first he'll deliver a special two-night talk at Town Hall exploring what a bright-green future means for the planetand the perils and opportunities that future will bring for Seattle. Tonight's talk will focus on global issues and big trends. Presented by Town Hall's Center for Civic Life.