Stewart Brand's 'Ecopragmatism'

In the 1960s, Stewart Brand became one of the country’s first and most famous champions of a new ecological awareness. His Whole Earth Catalog spoke to a generation of hippies and back-to-nature commune dwellers.

Now, at 70, Stewart Brand is calling on environmentalists to reframe their understanding of the problem — and solutions. It’s too late for back-to-nature, he says. Global warming is beyond that.

To survive now, Brand says, we need nuclear power, genetic engineering, giant cities. We must manage nature or lose civilization.

This hour, On Point: In the face of global warming, Stewart Brand redefines green.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.Guests:

Stewart Brand joins us from Denver. Founder and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, founder of The WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectronric Link), and co-founder of the Global Business Network, he's president of the Long Now Foundation. His new book is "Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto."

Joining us from New York is Amory Lovins, co-founder, chairman, and chief scientist at the Rocky Mountain Institute. He's author of "Winning the Oil Endgame." You can read his critique of Stewart Brand's book at Grist.org.

Later this hour:

We're joined from New York by Bill McKibben, longtime environmental journalist and founder of 350.org, an advocacy group organizing events across the world on October 24 — "International Day of Climate Action." He's coordinating what he says will be about 1,000 events, from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to the streets of the U.S.

More links:

Here's Stewart Brand speaking at a TED conference in July on rethinking "green pieties":

Amory Lovins was on FORA.tv in August talking about energy efficiency and climate change:

And here's Bill McKibben in Australia this summer talking about the "350" movement: