Michael Shellenberger is author and co-founder of Breakthrough Institute. He works on and writes about energy technology innovation, climate change, economic development, rain forest conservation, social values, national security and human rights. As president of Breakthrough, he is a leading national advocate for the U.S. to make large, public-private investments in clean energy and decarbonization technologies to achieve energy independence, restore America's economic competitiveness, and slow global warming. Breakthrough's approach to climate change was recently the subject of a profile on NPR's "Morning Edition". Michael is co-author of Break Through and the 2004 essay, "The Death of Environmentalism." In 2002 Michael co-founded the Apollo Alliance and the Breakthrough Institute. He and Ted Nordhaus were named Time magazine "Heroes of the Environment 2008".  Michael has written for The New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Republic, the American Prospect, Salon, Harvard Law and Policy Review (pdf), Democracy, and Glamour Magazine.  Michael has worked as a strategist for efforts to invest billions inclean energy, save the world's last redwoods, and improve working conditions for Nike factory workers in China. He was raised in Greeley, Colorado, received his B.A. from Earlham in Indiana, and received a Masters Degree in cultural anthropology from the University of California.

Ted Nordhaus is an author, researcher, and political strategist. He is a widely recognized authority on climate and energy policy and his work has deeply influenced a new generation of clean energy advocates. With co-author Michael Shellenberger, he published the seminal essay "The Death of Environmentalism" in 2004 and the controversial and critically acclaimed Break Through, Why We Can't Leave Saving The Planet To Environmentalists in 2007. Time Magazine named Ted a "Hero of the Environment" in 2008, and dubbed his work "prescient." His writings have appeared widely in magazines, newspapers, and journals including The New Republic, The American Prospect, Salon, and The New York Times among many others. Ted is a founder and chairman of the Breakthrough Institute, a political think tank based in Oakland California that works at the nexus of climate, energy, and economic policy. He is also managing partner of American Environics, a research and consulting firm that brings cutting edge research andmethodologies used to understand the evolution of American socialvalues to progressive political projects.