Friends of Merrymeeting Bay’s (FOMB) second presentation of their 29th annual Winter Speaker Series, A Steady State Economy for Environmental Protection features Brian Czech, Executive Director of the Center for Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE).Winter Speaker Series presentations are held via Zoom and accessible via hyperlink at the top of the FOMB web page: www.fomb.org. This event takes place Wednesday, November 12th at 7 pm.

Efforts toward environmental protection are like an exercise in futility when economic growth is the overriding policy goal. Economic growth — increasing production and consumption of goods and services in the aggregate — entails a growing human population and increasing consumption. Environmental deterioration will continue until society adopts a steady state economy as the sustainable alternative to growth. CASSE has been the leading organization in advancing the steady state economy for over 25 years with their mission to advance this economic model, with stabilized population and consumption, as a policy goal with widespread public support. They pursue this mission by: Educating citizens, organizations, and policy makers on the conflict between economic growth and (1) environmental protection, (2) ecological and economic sustainability, and (3) national security and international stability. And also by: promoting the steady state economy as a desirable alternative to economic growth and studying the means to establish this type of economy. This presentation provides the highlights of “steady statesmanship” in domestic policy, international affairs, and social movements.

Brian Czech is the founding president of CASSE, and signed on as executive director in 2017. Czech served as the first conservation biologist in the history of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1999-2017, and concurrently is a visiting professor of natural resource economics in Virginia Tech’s National Capitol Region locations. He is the author of several books including Supply Shock, Shoveling Fuel for a Runaway Train, and The Endangered Species Act: History, Conservation Biology, and Public Policy, as well as over 50 academic journal articles. Brian has a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin, an M.S. from the University of Washington, and a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona. Czech has been designated an “eco-champion” by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), an “eco-hero” by Ecohearth, and one of the “top 100 inspirational leaders” by the Post-Growth Institute.

FOMB hosts their Winter Speaker Series October-May, on the second Wednesday of each month. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic and ability for participants to attend from out of the area, the series continues via Zoom. The FOMB December 10th presentation, Return to the Sky features Tina Morris, ornithologist, wildlife biologist and author.

Speaker Series presentations are free, open to the public. Visit www.fomb.org to see speaker biographies, full event schedules, video recordings of past presentations, become a member, and learn more about how you can help protect beautiful Merrymeeting Bay and the Gulf of Maine.

For more information contact FOMB at 207-666-3372 or edfomb@comcast.net