David Lewis

— Bio —

David Lewis:  I made pottery in rural Canada for a number of years starting in the early 1970s.  When scientists confirmed what the Antarctic ozone hole was in 1987 I felt a call to understand what was happening to the atmosphere.  I was a delegate to the Toronto Changing Atmosphere conference of 1988.  I told the scientists I met there that I was an artist, but I could read their journals, and I was disturbed to find I was a member of a dying civilization.  It astonished me as they looked at me gravely and welcomed my contribution.  

I went out into Canadian politics after that.  I staked my prospects for success as a politician beginning in 1988 on whether voters would support stabilization of the composition of the atmosphere. Obviously, voters have yet to do this. After many years, sometime in the later 1990s, I despaired.  But I heard that Hansen had renewed his public efforts to communicate to the public about the dangers ahead.  These days I study and look for opportunities to contribute to the debate about what we face and what we can do.  

I live near Seattle these days with my wife and two dogs.