Speakers announced for Landmark Climate Change Conference

OBERLIN, Ohio, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A major gathering of some of the most innovative and influential environmental and political thinkers in the world will convene at After Fossil Fuels: The Next Economy, a landmark conference that will take place in Oberlin, Ohio, from October 6-8, Sponsored by Oberlin College and The Oberlin Project, the conference has been organized by David W. Orr, the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics Emeritus at Oberlin College and the founder and visionary behind The Oberlin Project.

Key speakers include:

• Arnold Schwarzenegger, 38th Governor of California, who made California a world leader in renewable energy and combating climate change with the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. He is the founder of The USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy.
• Bill McKibben, Founder of 350.org, an author and environmentalist who was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize in 2014. His 1989 book, The End of Nature, is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change. 350.org is the first planet-wide, grassroots climate and  The Boston Globe has said that he is "probably America's most important environmentalist."
• Hunter Lovins, President  & Founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions, and a renowned author and champion of sustainable development for over 35 years.
• Bill Ritter, 41st Governor of Colorado, and founder of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University.
• Juliet Schor is a professor of sociology at Boston College and currently co-chair of the board of directors of the Better Future Project, an organization working to end fossil fuel use.
• Michael Brune, President of the Sierra Club, which is at the forefront of the drive to move beyond fossil fuels to clean energy while also protecting America's remaining wild places.
• Mindy S. Lubber, President and a Founding Board Member of Ceres, a nonprofit organization that is mobilizing many of the world's largest investors and companies to take stronger action on climate change, water scarcity, and other global sustainability challenges. She directs Ceres' Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a group of 120 institutional investors managing over $14 trillion in assets focused on the business risks and opportunities of climate change.
• Tom Steyer, Founder of NextGen Climate, a business leader and philanthropist.
• Mark Campanale, Founder of Carbon Tracker Initiative, and the originator of the "unburnable carbon" capital markets thesis: "Unburnable Carbon, Are Markets Carrying a Carbon Bubble?" 

After Fossil Fuels: The Next Economy will be the first major event to be held in the new Peter B. Lewis Gateway Center and The Hotel at Oberlin, which is on target to become one of the rare LEED Platinum hotels and conference centers in the U.S. The conference is presented by Oberlin College and The Oberlin Project with the following partners:  

• The Alliance for Sustainable Colorado
• The American Renewable Energy Institute
• The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies
• The Capital Institute
• The Democracy Collaborative
• The Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
• The Next System Project
• PostCarbon Institute
• 350.org
• The USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy

Financial support for the conference is provided by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the George Gund Foundation, the Cleveland Foundation, the Lorain County Community Foundation, the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, and a dozen anonymous donors.

For more information, including the Conference program, registration, and ticket information visit the website http://new.oberlin.edu/events-activities/after-fossil-fuels/ 

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SOURCE Oberlin College; The Oberlin Project