Talking climate in ski country

The Vermont Town Hall series kicks off Friday with a conversation between author and environmentalist Bill McKibben and Waterbury journalist David Goodman. The topic: How can we save the earth and ourselves?

“Other than Al Gore, he (McKibben) has probably done more to advance the conversation than anybody,” said Craig DeLuca, a social entrepreneur and one of the brains behind the new series.

McKibben has written numerous books about the environment, and gotten people to rally for carbon emission reduction with his 350.org movement (the number referring to the level of carbon in parts per million that is considered too high for the earth’s atmosphere.) He is a popular contributor to Rolling Stone magazine, and he was arrested outside the White House in 2012 during a protest against the Keystone oil pipeline, one of the largest acts of mass civil disobedience since the Civil Rights era.

Lance Olson, executive director of the Spruce Peaks Arts Center Foundation, said the partnership with Vermont Town Hall Series “means a great deal to us.”

With a world-renowned ballet troupe taking the stage the day after the McKibben talk, Olson said Spruce Peak is fulfilling its mission to “educate and elevate the conversation whenever we can.” He’d like to see the series be a recurring event at Spruce Peak.

“The programming of the mind is an essential part of every community, and it happens in a variety of ways,” Olson said. “In some respects, Vermonters are really nice people who don’t want to argue, but at the same time we know how to argue and know how to disagree, and at the end of the day we know how to pull together.”

DeLuca and Goodman are two of the four Vermonters who spearheaded the Town Hall series, along with Stowe Reporter publisher Biddle Duke and management consultant Katrina Veerman. Goodman’s role will be part interviewer and part moderator, as members of the audience are encouraged to get involved, just like at Town Meeting.

“Think of it as a cross between TED Talks and the Actor’s Studio, where it’s more informal,” DeLuca said. “We’re saying, bring your toughest questions.”

McKibben can handle tough questions from climate change deniers and environmentalists alike, DeLuca said. He said the conversation about climate change has gone beyond trying to halt it and is now dealing with ways to adapt to a world that has already changed.

“We’re trying to position this as, ‘What is the impact of climate change?’” DeLuca said. “At least for the next several generations, we’re going to have to deal with it instead of just preventing it.”

It is no accident that a conversation about climate change is taking place in the winter at a ski resort. DeLuca said climate models show Vermont winters and springs are going to be warmer and wetter, which could have a huge effect on tourism, particularly winter sports.

He said McKibben will likely draw a distinction between climate and weather, something that can get lost in the shuffle when Vermonters wake up to consistently cold temperatures, even with fewer inches of snow each year.

“If this year is a harbinger of things, thank God we have good snowmaking and grooming,” DeLuca said.

The goal of the Vermont Town Hall series is to bring “thought leaders” to the area several times a year, to talk about a wide variety of subjects. The organizers want the next talk to be about poverty and inequality in Vermont, which DeLuca said is a serious issue in a state where upwards of 100,000 people depend on food stamps and one in seven people are “food insecure.”

Vermont Town Hall

A conversation with Bill McKibben Friday, Jan. 31, 7 p.m.

Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, 122 Hourglass Drive, Stowe

$5, sprucepeakarts.org