Lester Russell Brown was born on March 28, 1934. He is an American environmental analyst, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, and founder and former president of the Earth Policy Institute, a nonprofit research group based in Washington, D.C. BBC Radio commentator Peter Day called him "one of the great pioneer environmentalists."

Brown has written or co-written more than 50 books about global environmental issues. His books have been translated into over 40 languages. His most recent book, The Great Transition: Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy (2015), explains how the global economy is moving from fossil and nuclear energy to clean energy from solar, wind, and other renewable sources. His earlier book was Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity (2012).

Brown highlights the effects of rising grain prices on countries and their relationships, stating that "the biggest threat to global stability is the potential for food crises in poor countries," which could "bring down civilization." In Foreign Policy magazine, he describes how the "new geopolitics of food" began contributing to unrest and changes in governments in 2011.

Brown has received 26 honorary degrees and a MacArthur Fellowship. The Washington Post described him as "one of the world's most influential thinkers." In 1978, his book The Twenty-Ninth Day warned about dangers from overusing natural resources, such as overfishing, deforestation, and desertification. In 1986, the Library of Congress requested his personal papers, noting that his work "has already strongly affected thinking about problems of world population and resources." President Bill Clinton once said, "we should all heed his advice." In 2003, Brown signed the Humanist Manifesto.

In the mid-1970s, Brown helped develop the idea of sustainable development, a concept he began exploring during his early career in farming. He has received many 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 work on solving global environmental problems. In 1995, Marquis Who's Who named him one of its "50 Great Americans." He recently received the Presidential Medal of Italy and was named an honorary professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He lives in Washington, D.C., and retired in June 2015.

Early life

Brown was born and raised on a farm in Bridgeton, New Jersey, near the Delaware River. The farm did not have running water or electricity. He learned to read early in life and loved reading a lot. He was very interested in World War II and borrowed old newspapers from a nearby farm to stay informed about the war. He especially enjoyed reading about the lives of important people, including America's founding fathers and others like Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, and Marie Curie. From a young age, he worked on the farm, helping with tasks such as milking cows, pulling weeds, and cleaning the stable. He was clever and hardworking, and he included his younger brother, Carl, in business activities, such as raising pheasants and chickens to sell. In 1951, they started a tomato-growing business, which later became one of the largest in New Jersey, selling over 1,520,000 pounds (690,000 kg) of tomatoes each year. He later said, "farming is all I ever wanted to do with all my life. You have to know about soils, weather, plant diseases, the study of insects, management, and even politics. It's the ideal job that involves many different areas."

Education

After earning a degree in agricultural science from Rutgers University in 1955, he participated in the International Farm Youth Exchange Program. This program sent him to live in rural India for six months. During this time, he learned a lot about food and population challenges. His biographer, David De Leon, wrote, "His experiences in Indian villages changed his life. Although he returned to growing tomatoes in the United States, this work no longer seemed exciting to him."

To address global food issues, he decided to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). He discovered that to be hired, he needed a degree in agricultural economics. He spent nine months earning a master’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Maryland and joined FAS in 1959 as an international agricultural analyst in the Asia branch. A year later, he took a nine-month leave to earn a master of public administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Public Administration, which later became the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

In 1963, four years after joining FAS, he published Man, Land and Food, the first detailed study about world food, population, and land resources through the end of the century. The study was featured as a cover story in the January 6, 1963, issue of U.S. News & World Report, where it caught the attention of Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman. Freeman appreciated Brown’s bold analysis and offered him a job on his staff, saying, "You sketched the problems. Now you have to do something about them." Brown became the resident specialist on global issues, advising the secretary of agriculture on overseas agricultural policies. He also led USDA’s International Agricultural Development Service from 1966 to 1969. His main responsibility was to "increase food production in underdeveloped countries."

In early 1969, he left government work to help create the Overseas Development Council. He also supported the Green Revolution, which aimed to use better seeds and farming methods to reduce global poverty and hunger. He believed this technology was "the most crucial historical event since the steam engine." However, later he realized that rapid population growth in underdeveloped countries was making it difficult to keep up with increased food production.

Career as environmental activist

In 1974, with the help of a $500,000 grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Brown started the Worldwatch Institute, the first research organization focused on studying global environmental problems. At the institute, he created the Worldwatch Papers, the annual State of the World reports, World Watch magazine, a second annual publication called Vital Signs: The Trends That Are Shaping Our Future, and the Environmental Alert book series. According to De Leon, "he hired a team of young people who had recently finished college. They were expected to be 'professional generalists,' meaning they could work on many different topics rather than focusing on one specific area with advanced training."

Over time, the institute became known as an independent and respected organization that studied environmental issues and collected a large amount of environmental information. Its goal was to teach the public and government about environmental problems and suggest solutions. The institute refused to become a lobbying group, with Brown stating, "the world has many specialists who dig deep into the earth and find important insights, but no one is bringing all these pieces together. That is our job." Because of this, he was called "one of the world's most influential thinkers" and received a $250,000 "genius award" from the MacArthur Foundation in 1986.

In 1991, during his speech for the Humanist of the Year award from the American Humanist Association, Brown discussed the challenges of population growth and environmental decline, which he linked to economic activities that cannot be sustained long-term. He believed that nuclear power, due to its high costs, safety risks, waste storage problems, and the risk of spreading nuclear weapons, was not a good solution. Instead, he argued that solar energy was the only sustainable choice for humanity. He said, "We have the chance to create an economic system that can last as long as the sun. No previous generation had this opportunity. It is an exciting challenge; it can be done."

In 2001, Brown left the Worldwatch Institute to start the Earth Policy Institute, which aimed to provide a plan to save civilization. His years of working on global issues using an interdisciplinary approach helped him identify trends that specialists might miss. This allowed him to develop global solutions to today's environmental problems. Some of his important works from the institute include World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse (2011), Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth (2001), and the Plan B series. His most recent book was The Great Transition: Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy (2015), co-authored with Janet Larsen, J. Matthew Roney, and Emily E. Adams.

On June 30, 2015, he officially retired and closed the Earth Policy Institute. The Worldwatch Institute was closed around 2017. His legacy continues through a Lester R. Brown Reading Room at Rutgers University, his former university. The room will hold his books, translations, honorary degrees, and awards. His electronic collection of presentations, radio and television interviews, and documentaries will be added to the Rutgers University library system. Rutgers also hosts the Earth Policy Institute's website to keep its information available.

The Library of Congress received his personal papers from his early years through his career, which included work with the United States Department of Agriculture, the Overseas Development Council, the Worldwatch Institute, and the Earth Policy Institute.

"…a small think tank with a knack of spotting new trends…" – Geoffrey Lean, Telegraph

Environmentalist and author

In 2008, after speaking at Catawba College, the college newspaper called him an "environmental Paul Revere," comparing him to the historical figure who warned about danger. He told his audience, "Unless civilization changes its habits, its end is truly near. We are in a race between natural tipping points and political tipping points. What we need most is for the market to tell the environmental truth." He asked, "How much are we willing to spend to avoid a 23-foot rise in sea level?" He explained that "indirect costs are shaping our future," and by ignoring these, "we are doing the same thing as Enron—leaving costs off the books. Consuming today without thinking about tomorrow is not a winning philosophy." He discussed rapid population growth, deforestation, and "two new stresses—rising food and oil prices." He said, "As oil prices go up, grain prices will follow."

In 2001, Brown proposed a "tax shifting" plan that would lower income taxes and replace them with taxes on harmful activities, such as carbon emissions. He said this would create an "honest market" by adding a tax on carbon to cover the hidden costs of climate change. This approach would also include taxes on activities like toxic waste, overuse of raw materials, mercury emissions, garbage production, pesticide use, and the use of throwaway products like plastic bottles. He explained that hiding these environmental costs "off the books" risks repeating the failure of companies like Enron, which collapsed after auditors found hidden costs.

Brown later said that this tax shift would create an "honest market," stating, "The key to changing the economy is creating an honest market that tells the ecological truth." In 2011, he estimated the cost of this plan, including the effects of better technology, renewable energy use, and "updating the concept of national security."

In December 2008, Brown shared ways to create new jobs through public investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency technology. He included statistics about growth and the number of jobs that could be created.

Books (selection)

Lester Brown has written or co-written more than 50 books. These books have been translated into about 40 languages. Some of his earlier books include Man, Land and Food, World Without Borders, and Building a Sustainable Society. His 1995 book Who Will Feed China? questioned the official view about China’s future food needs. This book led to many discussions and meetings about food security.

In May 2001, he started the Earth Policy Institute. This organization helps people understand how to create an economy that protects the environment. In November 2001, he wrote Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth. This book was praised by E.O. Wilson as "an instant classic." In 2009, he published Plan B 4.0, and in 2011, World on the Edge. In 2012, he wrote Full Planet, Empty Plates.

In Who Will Feed China?, published in 1995, Brown explained how growing countries, like China, put pressure on the world’s resources. He wrote, "To feed its 1.2 billion people, China may soon have to import so much grain that this action could trigger unprecedented rises in world food prices."

In February 2014, he updated this forecast. He said China had become a major buyer of grain, planning to purchase 22 million tons in the 2013–2014 trade year. China’s grain use is also increasing by 17 million tons each year.

In Full Planet, Empty Plates, published in 2004, Brown described how human needs are exceeding the Earth’s ability to provide resources. He explained that environmental harm, such as global warming, water shortages, loss of farmland in countries like China, and population growth, is reducing food production worldwide.

In World on the Edge, published in 2011, Brown continued the themes of his earlier books. He urged world leaders to act quickly to protect civilization. He stressed that time is limited to address these challenges.

At California State University, Chico, Plan B is required reading for all new students. The university uses the book in many courses, including History, English, Philosophy, Communications, Political Science, and Social Science.

In the fall of 2013, Brown published his autobiography, Breaking New Ground. In this book, he describes key events in his life that led him to create the first research institute focused on studying global environmental issues from different fields. David Orr called Brown "a true American hero" and said he is "in a class by himself" as a scientist and public thinker. David Suzuki described Brown as "one of humanity’s great eco-warriors" who "constantly updates the state of the planet" and "seeks solutions for sustainability."

In Breaking New Ground, Brown also discusses the growth of a global energy revolution that uses renewable sources. Many countries are replacing coal and nuclear power with renewable energy, such as solar and wind. Large solar projects are now being built worldwide. Some wind farms produce as much electricity as several nuclear power plants. In countries like China, new transportation systems rely on electricity, and more people use bicycles for short trips.

Awards and recognition

Lester Brown has received many prizes and awards, including 25 honorary degrees, and is an honorary professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

• 1965: Superior Service Award, United States Department of Agriculture
• 1965: Arthur S. Flemming Award
• 1981: A.H. Boerma Award, U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization
• 1982: UN Environmental Program Leadership Medal
• 1985: Lorax Award, Global Tomorrow Coalition
• 1989: World Wildlife Fund for Nature (International)
• 1987: UN Environmental Prize
• 1991: Laurea Honoris Causa (HC degree) in Agricultural Sciences, University of Pisa, Italy
• 1991: A. Bizzozero Award, University of Parma
• 1991: Humanist of the Year Award, American Humanist Association
• 1991: Pro Mundo Habitabili Award, King Carl Gustaf XVI, Sweden
• 1991: Delphi International Cooperation Award
• 1992: Cervia Ambiente Prize, Italy
• 1992: Robert Rodale Lecture Award
• 1993: Certificate of Special Recognition, Association of American Geographers
• 1994: Blue Planet Prize, Asahi Glass Foundation
• 1994: J. Sterling Morton Arbor Day Award
• 1995: Public Service Award, Federation of American Scientists
• 1995: Rachel Carson Environmental Achievement Award
• 2000: Bruno H. Schubert Foundation Environment Award
• 2001: Natural Business Leadership Award
• 2002: Excellence Advantage Award, International Fund for China's Environment
• 2002: Italian Presidential Medal
• 2003: George and Greta Borgstrom Prize, Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry
• 2005: Claire Matzger Lilienthal Distinguished Lecture Award, California Academy of Science
• 2008: Heifer All-Star (Heifer International Annual Award)
• 2009: Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Award
• 2010: University of Maryland Alumni Hall of Fame
• 2010: Hero Award, Alliance for Sustainable Colorado
• 2012: Earth Hall of Fame, Kyoto
• 2012: Green Carpet Award for Distinguished Service, Harvard University
• 2012: Planet and Humanity Award, International Geographical Union
• 2013: Green Leadership Award, American Renewable Energy Institute
• 2014: Distinguished Service Award, World Future Society

• 2010: One of the top 100 global thinkers, Foreign Policy magazine
• 2011: One of the top 100 global thinkers, Foreign Policy magazine

• Christopher Award for By Bread Alone
• Ecologia Firenze (an Italian literary award) for The Twenty-Ninth Day
• A.H. Boerma Award, FAO, for writings on the world food problem
• Best Translated Book Award, Ministry of Culture, Iran, for Full House
• Best Nonfiction Book Award, Peka Institute, Iran, for Eco-Economy
• National Library of China Book Award for Plan B (Chinese edition)