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I think an old style of addressing environmental problems is ebbing, but the rise of the so-called conservative, political movement in this country is not a trend towards the future but a reaction to this very broad shift that we are undergoing.

I'm on the board of the Sierra Club Foundation and am myself a big environmentalist. But the way to make the biggest difference is to change mainstream behavior.

The eco-movement is growing as people all over catch on to the need to protect our precious planet, which makes the future look really bright - and makes me really happy.

What I have experienced over time is that environmental problems are easier to deal with in ways that don't go into their interconnections to the rest of what we are.

All our environmental problems become easier to solve with fewer people and harder - and ultimately impossible to solve - with ever more people.

I think that its easy to think of the environment as all doom and gloom and that, 'What can we do, it's too late. And the polar bears are gone, and everything is gone.' But really, just the little steps that we can make as individuals make a big difference.

All we can hope for is that the thing is going to slowly and imperceptibly shift. All I can say is that 50 years ago there were no such thing as environmental policies.

Environmentalism isn't a discipline or specialty. It's a way of seeing our place in the world. And we need everybody to see the world that way. Don't think 'In order to make a difference I have to become an environmentalist.'

I've always been a strong supporter of environmental protection and initiatives in that area. But I'm willing to set priorities. If we have to make reductions in one place, we'll have to-in order to increase another place, I'm willing to do that.