The UAF History Department and Arctic and Northern Studies Program are excited to host Yale University professor Paul Sabin for a thought-provoking Zoom talk on October 16th, from 10:30 PM to 11:45 PM. Sabin, an expert in environmental politics and history, will discuss the growing shift in environmental values and public participation, focusing on the evolution from "Not-in-My-Backyard" (NIMBY) to "Yes-in-My-Backyard" (YIMBY) approaches.

As climate change challenges the status quo, public participation processes like the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), long celebrated as tools for protecting local communities and the environment, are now facing new criticism from within the liberal community. Sabin’s talk will explore how these debates over community input, green infrastructure, housing, and mass transit development reflect deeper generational changes in the environmental movement. This Zoom talk is free and open to all students and community members. Attendees can participate remotely or attend the in-person watch party at the Arctic and Northern Studies conference room (GRUE 614E) for a shared viewing experience.

This is a unique opportunity to engage with pressing questions about the future of environmental policy and the role of public participation. Whether you are passionate about environmental studies, political science, or just curious about how local and national politics shape our environment, this talk promises to offer valuable insights.

Join us for this important conversation about the future of environmental politics!

About Paul Sabin

Paul Sabin is the Randolph W. Townsend, Jr. Professor of History at Yale University, where he teaches and writes about environmental and energy history and U.S. political and legal history.  Sabin is the faculty director for the Yale Environmental Humanities Program and coordinates the Yale Environmental History working group.

Sabin’s new book, Public Citizens: The Attack on Big Government and the Remaking of American Liberalism (W.W. Norton, 2021), examines the evolution and impact of the public interest environmental law movement in the United States since the 1960s. Sabin’s previous book, The Bet: Paul Ehrlich, Julian Simon, and Our Gamble Over Earth’s Future (Yale University Press, 2013), explores contentious debates over population growth and resource scarcity.  His first book, Crude Politics: The California Oil Market, 1900-1940 (University of California Press, 2005), shows how politics and law shaped a growing dependence on petroleum in California and the nation.

Sabin received his Ph.D. in 2000 from the University of California, Berkeley, and then spent a year as the Newcomen Post-Doctoral Fellow in business history at the Harvard Business School.  He also served for nine years as the founding executive director of the non-profit Environmental Leadership Program, which has trained and supported a collaborative network of more than 1,400 talented public leaders from higher education, government, businesses, and non-profit organizations.