About

photo of Max Wilbert at Thacker Pass, NV

Hi. I’m Max Wilbert.

I was born in Seattle, Washington, and for the last decade I’ve lived in rural western Oregon.

I’m madly in love with our planet.

Some of my favorite things to do are foraging for wild food, swimming in rivers and streams, climbing mountains, and playing sports of any kind.

I’m in recovery from the psychological and spiritual trauma of civilization, patriarchy, whiteness, and inter-generational trauma, and work every day to develop a deeper relationship with my soul, shadow, ancestors, and the universe.

My Work

For two decades I’ve been working to save our planet. This has taken me to the Siberian Arctic, fossil fuel blockades in Canada and the United States, solidarity work with environmentalists in the Philippines, and to the front lines of greenwashing at Thacker Pass. Between dramatic periods of confrontation, direct action, and travel, most of my work is quieter: organizing, education, strategizing, writing, photography, video production, and podcasting.

I am part of several grassroots political movements, including Fertile Ground Institute for Social and Ecological Justice, Deep Green Resistance, and Protect Thacker Pass, where I co-founded a land defense camp that has held off a major mining corporation for several years. I believe in the power of organization and working together, but I also work hard to not be dogmatic, and to understand and learn from people who I disagree with or have differences with.

bright green lies by Max Wilbert, Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith - book cover photo

I’m co-author of the book Bright Green Lies: How the Environmental Movement Lost Its Way and What We Can Do About It (Monkfish, 2021), which Dr. Vandana Shiva called “a much needed wake-up call” and Planet of the Humans director Jeff Gibbs said “is a must read for all who cherish life on Earth.”

Bright Green Lies (which was also made into a documentary film) explores how tech companies, governments, and mainstream environmental organizations are lining up behind a narrative that green technology will prevent global warming and ecological collapse — despite overwhelming evidence that consuming industrial products is the problem, not the solution.

The work I do has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, CNN, NPR, Mongabay, Earth Island Journal, CBC, The Globe & Mail, Resilience, KPFA, Last Real Indians, Counterpunch, and elsewhere.

The best way to stay updated on my work is to sign up for my Substack, a regular newsletter: