Bill McKibben
Thursday, September 11, 2025, at 7:30 p.m.
Congregation Emanu El, 1500 Sunset Blvd., Houston, TX 77005
Tickets On Sale July 21
The Progressive Forum is pleased to welcome back for his fourth appearance, the most famous environmentalist, Bill McKibben, who will discuss his book Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization. McKibben will greet fans and sign books at the end of the evening.
Douglas Brinkley will co-interview McKibben with Randall Morton, Progressive Forum founding executive director. Douglas Brinkley is a professor of history at Rice University and a CNN presidential historian. He has held leadership roles at the American Museum of Natural History, Yellowstone Park Foundation, National Audubon Society, and the Rockefeller-Roosevelt Conservation Roundtable. He was a speaker at the Progressive Forum for his book, Silent Spring Revolution. View that event here.
About Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization
From a principal founder of the climate movement, comes a call to harness the power of the sun and rewrite our scientific, economic, and political future. Our climate, and our democracy, are melting down. But Bill McKibben insists the moment is full of possibility. Energy from the sun and wind is suddenly the cheapest power on the planet and growing faster than any energy source in history—if we can keep accelerating the pace, we have a chance.
Here Comes the Sun includes the desperate fight of the fossil fuel industry and their politicians to hold this new power at bay which we witness here in Texas. He also shows how solar power is more than a path out of the climate crisis: it is a chance to reorder the world on a saner and more humane grounds. You can’t hoard solar energy or hold it in reserves—it’s available to all.
About Bill McKibben
Bill McKibben is a contributing writer to The New Yorker, and a founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 to work on climate and racial justice. He founded the first global grassroots climate campaign, 350.org, and serves as the Schumann Distinguished Professor in Residence at Middlebury College in Vermont. He has written over a dozen books about the environment, including his first, The End of Nature (published 1989). You can find video clips from his previous events on his past speaker page.
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Theater doors open at 6:30 p.m. when ticket holders can take their seats.
Door search, no large bags. Please refrain from bringing backpacks and anything larger than a small clutch purse into the event. Large items will be asked to be returned to your vehicle. All items are subject to search at the door.
Program is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Emanu El, 1500 Sunset Blvd, Houston, TX, 77005, across from Rice University.
Please present your PDF ETicket on your mobile device or print your PDF ETicket and bring it with you to the venue for entry. Our greeters or box office can help you.
Free parking is available in the Congregation Emanu El campus garage. Enter on Sunset Blvd where uniformed officers will direct you.
Ticket holders may pick up one free book at the Blue Willow Bookshop tables. Books are only distributed with a ticket at the event. We are unable to provide books after the event or for no-show tickets.
The speaker will sign books following the program, around 9pm.
Ticket prices are $154, $74, and $49 plus fees. In case of a high-sale event, the $39 Gallery section will be open with a high quality, direct view of stage with large screen TV monitors.
Private patron reception with the speaker begins at 6:15 p.m. with cash bar and complimentary lite bites, dessert, and coffee buffet for $154 ticket holders and those who have donated $1,000 or more in the past year. Reception located in the Oshman Multi-Purpose Room to the right of the main entrance, if entering from the parking garage. The speaker leaves the reception at 6:45 p.m. after a half-hour. So that everyone in the speaker greeting line has a chance to chat with the speaker, there is no book signing, autographing, or photography with the speaker in the speaker greeting line. In the rest of the reception room, photography and videography are welcome.
Box office services (credit card only) are available at the door on event night. In case of a sellout, there is no waiting list. Prior to event night, there are no tickets sold at Congregation Emanu El or any other physical location.
For box office assistance or for any other issues, please call 832-509-0262 or email boxoffice@progressiveforumhouston.org.
Guests who need special access are eligible for any ticket price. Ushers will seat special access guests in the aisles in the rear nearest restrooms. All rows are close to the speaker podium in the intimate seating environment.
During the lecture program, we will ask the audience to silence their personal digital devices, asking for no photography or videography.
Feel free to contact The Progressive Forum by email at staff@progressiveforumhouston.org.