"Switching light bulbs is an easy way of realizing large, immediate gains in energy efficiency. A study for the U.S. government calculated that the gasoline equivalent of the energy saved over the lifetime of one 24-watt compact fluorescent bulb is sufficient to drive a Prius from New York to San Francisco."

— Lester Brown
Ban the Bulb
Plan B Update

Mission

The Earth Policy Institute (EPI) was founded in 2001 by Lester Brown, the founder and former president of the Worldwatch Institute, to provide a plan of a sustainable future along with a roadmap of how to get from here to there. EPI works at the global level simply because no country can fully implement a Plan B economy in isolation.

EPI's goals are (1) to keep the media, policymakers, academics, environmentalists, and other decision-makers focused on the process of building a Plan B economy; (2) to provide analyses and examples of movement toward environmental sustainability; and (3) to use these analyses to raise environmental awareness and promote policy changes at all levels.

Activities

People change behavior either in response to new information or new experiences. Earth Policy Institute disseminates new information to guide the process of change via its plan of a sustainable future as outlined in its Updates, Indicators, and books, the most recent of which is Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.

Books

EPI publishes its basic research in book form simply because there is a worldwide network of book publishers in all the major languages, a network that does not exist for monographs or magazines. Having books available in the world’s leading languages broadens the dissemination of its research findings.