Guy McPherson speaks about abrupt climate change at SFU
A presentation of the Institute for the Humanities at SFU. Guy McPherson is an energetic speaker and talented moderator. He has appeared before countless audiences to speak about the two primary consequences of our fossil-fuel addiction: global climate change and energy decline. Because these phenomena impact every aspect of life on Earth, his talks reach a wide variety of audiences such as universities, associations, nonprofits, and numerous educational and scientific symposia and conferences. Selected presentations are available at McPherson’s YouTube channel or, more recently, Nature Bats Last’s YouTube channel, but each presentation is uniquely prepared for the specific audience. If you are considering hosting Guy for an event or speaking tour, you will find useful information at this link, and a host’s perspective in the wake of Guy’s departure here. Guy is professor emeritus of natural resources and the environment at the University of Arizona, where he taught and conducted research for twenty award-winning years. His scholarly work, which has for many years focused on conservation of biological diversity, has produced a dozen book and hundreds of articles. He lives in an off-grid, straw-bale house where he puts into practice his lifelong interest in sustainable living via organic gardening, raising small animals for eggs and milk, and working with members of his rural community. The majority of mainstream environmental organizations are not engaged with the root causes of climate change. There are many other more radical groups, networks and mobilizations who explicitly locate climate change as a symptom of the capitalist system. Many of these activists view all climate discourses as co-opted by corporate, state and reformist NGO rhetoric. At the same time, there are others who share a radical analysis, but have concluded based on climate science that we have already passed tipping points and that trying to “stop climate change” is now irrelevant. Guy McPherson is the most recognized figure in North America to represent the latter viewpoint. Is he right?
