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Lester Russel Brown (born March 28, 1934) is a United States environmental analyst, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, and founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. BBC Radio commentator Peter Day calls him "one of the great pioneer environmentalists." Brown is the author or co-author of over 50 books on global environmental issues and his works have been translated into more than forty languages. His most recent book is (''The Great Transition: Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy'' ) (April, 2015), in which he explains that the global economy is now undergoing a transition from fossil and nuclear energy to clean power from solar, wind, and other renewable sources.〔Brown, Lester. ''The Great Transition: Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy'', Earth Policy Institute, 2015〕 His previous book was ''Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity'' (2012).〔Brown, Lester. () Earth Policy Institute: Bookstore〕 Brown emphasizes the geopolitical effects of fast-rising grain prices,〔Brown, Lester. ( "The Great Food Crisis of 2011" ) Earth Policy Institute〕 noting that "the biggest threat to global stability is the potential for food crises in poor countries," and one that could "bring down civilization."〔Brown, Lester R. ("Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization?" ), ''Scientific American'', May, 2009〕 In ''Foreign Policy'' magazine, he describes how the "new geopolitics of food" has, in 2011, already begun to contribute to revolutions and upheaval in various countries.〔Brown, Lester R. ("The New Geopolitics of Food" ), ''Foreign Policy'', May/June 2011〕 The recipient of 26 honorary degrees and a MacArthur Fellowship, Brown has been described by the ''Washington Post'' as "one of the world's most influential thinkers." As early as 1978, in his book ''The Twenty-Ninth Day'', he was already warning of "the various dangers arising out of our manhandling of nature...by overfishing the oceans, stripping the forests, turning land into desert."〔Harrington, Michael. ''New York Times'' book review, April 9, 1978〕 In 1986, the Library of Congress requested his personal papers noting that his writings “have already strongly affected thinking about problems of world population and resources,” while president Bill Clinton has suggested that "we should all heed his advice."〔("Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization" ), PBS ''Journey to Planet Earth'' series.〕 In 2003 he was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto. In the mid-1970s, Brown helped pioneer the concept of sustainable development, during a career that started with farming. Since then, he has been the recipient of many prizes and awards, including, the 1987 United Nations Environment Prize, the 1989 World Wide Fund for Nature Gold Medal, and the 1994 Blue Planet Prize for his "contributions to solving global environmental problems." In 1995, ''Marquis Who's Who'' selected Brown as one of its "50 Great Americans." He was recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Italy and was appointed an honorary professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He lives in Washington, D.C. ==Early life== Brown was born and raised on a farm without running water or electricity in Bridgeton, New Jersey near the Delaware River. He learned to read early and was a voracious reader. He was fascinated by World War II and would borrow day-old papers from the next door farm to follow it. He especially enjoyed reading biographies including those of America’s founding fathers and others such as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, and Marie Curie. From his earliest years, he worked on the farm, milking cows, pulling weeds, and cleaning the stable. An enterprising youth, he involved his younger brother, Carl, in various businesses, such as growing pheasants and chickens for sale. In 1951, they started a tomato growing business, which eventually grew to become one of New Jersey's largest, with sales of over a year. He later said, "farming is all I ever wanted to do with all my life. You have to know soils, weather, plant pathology, entomology, management, even politics. It's the ideal interdisciplinary profession."〔De Leon, David. ''Leaders from the 1960s: a biographical sourcebook of American activism'', Greenwood Publishing Group (1994)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lester R. Brown」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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