Blame It On Rio In June of 1972, some 35 years ago, a group of future-thinking leaders met in Sweden for the first United Nations Convention on the Human Environment. By the end of a whirlwind week, they had issued the Stockholm Statement, established what is now known as UNEP, and given birth to the modern field of international environmental law. Twenty years later, in June of 1992, just one month before he would be chosen as Clinton's running mate, Al Gore was scheduled to present as the head of the Congressional Delegation at the NGO "Global Forum" at the …

The Gore Tour Stops in D.C. This coming Sunday, former Vice President, Oscar winner, and rock 'n' roll organizer Al Gore will address a group of more than 400 leading CEOs, COOs, nonprofit leaders, politicians, court justices, attorneys general, law school professors and Deans, entrepreneurs, and environmental professionals. Only most of them are still in law school. This Sunday, Gore will give the closing address at the 17th Annual Conference of the National Association of Environmental Law Societies, The Future of Environmental Protection, hosted this year by the George Washington University Law School. His inspirational words will no doubt have …

Emerging From the Stone Age One week ago today, I awoke to a sun-splashed view of the Flatirons from a travel inn just off of Broadway Avenue in Boulder, CO. These sandstone shelves -- named in the days of Abe Lincoln by intrepid pioneer women who said they looked like the flat, metal irons used to iron their clothes -- emerged some 290-296 million years ago as the earth's crust lifted and tilted. These mini-mountains provide an Edenic backdrop for Stephen King's The Stand, and last week, served as the setting for higher education's non-fictional sustainability Stand at the Rocky …

In 1903, a 45-year old Theodore Roosevelt stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon in Northern Arizona. He looked out over one of this country's great wonders and advised the nation to "Leave it as it is. You can not improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it." A little over a century later, I am sweating about 175 miles south in the 95 degree heat of Tempe, Arizona. And although the Grand Canyon is still intact, we have not listened to the advice of this great Republican leader on …

On Monday, in the wake of remarks that caused anger and intense debate around the world, Pope Benedict XVI told Muslim diplomats that "our future" depends on good relations between followers of the Catholic and Muslim faiths. His Holiness quoted John Paul II calling for "reciprocity in all fields" and urging religious freedom and tolerance. This past week, I had the incredible honor of presenting on a panel with religious leaders from around the world as part of the Climate Institute's Summit on Climate Destabilization. The panel, chaired by famed Earth Day founder Denis Hayes, featured revolutionary leaders from the …

As my inaugural blog for Gristmill, I'd like to send a shout out -- or rather, to put out an APB -- for Generation X, or what I would like to call my "Lost Generation." No offense to Larry Page or Sergey Brin. You have shown that youth -- thrown in the deep end far too early -- can actually rise to the challenge, blossoming into revolutionary 25-35 year olds who truly change the world. While past industrial revolutionists created the steam engine, the cotton en(gin)e, and the diesel engine, you created and revolutionized the search engine, and have revolutionized …