Stewart Brand, the environmentalist most famous for editing the Whole Earth Catalog in the 1970s, will be speaking at next week’s Fortune Brainstorm: Green about why biotech crops are green and sustainable. Mr. Brand is currently co-chairman of The Long Now Foundation and recently wrote the book Whole Earth Discipline, where he argues that the green movement’s rejection of agricultural biotechnology is antithetical to its goal of preserving the environment.

Stewart Brand will be speaking on Monday, April 12 from 7:15-9:15 PM PST. You can view his speech via a live webcast by registering online at: http://www.fortuneconferences.com/brainstormgreen/.

Dr. Pamela Ronald, Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of California – Davis, CBI Expert, and Blogger, recently reviewed Stewart Brand’s new book Whole Earth Discipline on her blog “Tomorrow’s Table.” In this book Mr. Brand breaks with old-school environmentalists and argues that the green movement’s rejection of modern technologies, including agricultural biotechnology, is antithetical to its goal of preserving the environment.

Dr. Ronald is impressed with this book that is part memoir and part manifesto for a more progressive green movement. She writes that it will “delight the reader with its stories and characters” while also reminding the reader of the “seriousness of our situation and the need for science-based dialogue and action to sustain Earth for generations to come.”  

You can read Dr. Ronald’s entire book review here. You can view a talk with Stewart Brand at the US State Department here.

Have you read the Whole Earth Discipline? Please comment below with your thoughts on the book.