The Utopian—Dystopian Dyad: The Human Trajectory at a Crossroads
On the one hand, the global ecological, socio-political and economic news is indisputably grim: accelerating climate catastrophes, plummeting biodiversity, increasingly authoritarian regimes and movements on the rise planet-wide, the specter of a classic “Thucydides’ trap” in U.S.-China relations, entrenched capital undermining every effort at decarbonization, etc. On the other: the radical awakening and rising up of younger generations, the emergence of some genuinely impactful large-scale “green” initiatives and policies, the exponential growth of clean energy technologies; the recent successful rebuff of several right wing leaders and parties in key countries, etc. Is the human enterprise precariously perched on the knife-edge between catastrophic unraveling or the birth of a new, life-affirming civilization? It is hard to imagine two more appropriate interlocutors to explore the current zeitgeist: Kim Stanley Robinson, our greatest living science-fiction writer, who has fascinatingly and rigorously envisioned scenarios of human adaptation to the climate crisis in many of his novels; and Leah Stokes, a professor of environmental politics who is one of the nation’s most brilliant experts on energy, climate and public policy; and who many consider to have been a key behind-the-scenes prime mover in shepherding the giant IRA climate bill through Congress. Hosted/moderated by J.P. Harpignies, Bioneers Conference senior producer.
Berkeley Ballroom, Residence Inn
April 7th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm
Panelists
Kim Stanley Robinson
Science Fiction Author
Kim Stanley Robinson, an American science fiction writer, is the author of about twenty books, including the internationally bestselling Mars trilogy, and more recently Red Moon, New York 2140, and The Ministry for the Future. He was part of the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Artists and Writers’ Program in 1995 and 2016, and a featured speaker at COP-26 in Glasgow as a guest of the UK government and the UN. His work has been translated into 26 languages and won many awards including the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards. In 2016 asteroid 72432 was named “Kimrobinson.”
Leah Stokes
Anton Vonk Associate Professor of Environmental Politics
University of California, Santa Barbara
Leah Stokes, Ph.D., one of the nation’s most influential leading experts and “engaged scholars" in climate and energy policy, is the author of the award-winning book Short Circuiting Policy, which examines the role of utilities in undermining regulation and promoting climate denial. Trained at MIT, Columbia, and the University of Toronto, Stokes’ widely read and cited work has been published in top scholarly journals, as well as the New York Times, Washington Post, and other popular media outlets. She is the Anton Vonk Associate Professor of Environmental Politics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, a senior policy consultant at Rewiring America, and co-host of the popular climate podcast “A Matter of Degrees.”
J.P. Harpignies
Senior Producer
Bioneers
J.P. Harpignies, Bioneers Senior Producer, affiliated with Bioneers since 1990, is a Brooklyn, NYC-based consultant, conference producer, copy-editor and writer. A former Program Director at the New York Open Center and a senior review team member for the Buckminster Fuller Challenge from 2010 to 2017, he has authored or edited several books, including Political Ecosystems, Delusions of Normality, Visionary Plant Consciousness, and, most recently, Animal Encounters.
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