MacArthur Grant For Environmental Planner

Lucky Blake argues that economic prosperity and a healthy environment are not mutually exclusive. Blake was awarded the MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant of $500,000, which comes with no strings attached. She is director fo the Sierra Business Council near Truckee, California and former executive diretor of the California League of Conservation Voters. The Sierra Business Council bring together environmentalists and businesses, has raised funds for environmental planning efforts, and has produced a handbook for rural communities on how to integrate new population while remaining sensitive to the environment. "In this country we pride ourselves on caring about environmental quality, but we're really backward in the way we undersatnd the natural world. . .We don't understand it as a system that supports. . .our societies," Blake says.

Thanks to Chris Steins