Albert K. Bates

Albert Bates is author of The Paris Agreement, Pour Evian on Your Radishes, The Biochar Solution, The Financial Collapse Survival Guide and Cookbook and numerous books, films and new media on food, energy, environment and history. A former environmental rights lawyer, paramedic, brick mason, flour miller, and horse trainer, he received the Right Livelihood Award in 1980 as part of the steering committee of Plenty, working to preserve the cultures of indigenous peoples, and board of directors of The Farm, a pioneering intentional community in Tennessee for the past 45 years. His book Climate in Crisis (January 1990, with a foreword by Al Gore), only missed stealing Bill McKibben's record of "the first book on climate change written for a general audience" by a few weeks. A co-founder and past president of the Global Ecovillage Network, he is presently GEN's representative to the UN climate talks. When not tinkering with pedal wringers for honey, hemp cheeses, or pyrolizing cookstoves, he teaches permaculture, ecovillage design and natural building and is a frequent guest on podcasts. He tweets at @peaksurfer and blogs at peaksurfer.blogspot.com.