Stephanie LeMenager is a professor of English and environmental studies at the University of Oregon. She writes about energy, climate, culture, and the role of the arts and humanities. Despite growing up in an oil family, LeMenager went on to become an environmentalist who holds a nuanced perspective of the role oil has played in American identity. This topic is explored in her book Living Oil: Petroleum Culture in the American Century.
In this conversation, LeMenager and Nguyen discuss the importance of oil in the American mythos, the branding challenges of renewable energy and climate change, and how storytellers can help envision a more productive, sustainable future by moving past apocalyptic narratives.
She will speak atUTPB on October 5 as part of the Boom or Bust Speaker series, and is looking forward to learning more about the complex experiences of people in the Permian Basin.
