A Hundred Twin Citians Who Make Things Happen.
Will Steger, Environmentalist

No one, with the recent exception of Al Gore, is more closely or widely listened to on environmental topics than the sixty-three-year-old polar explorer and educator. After several decades of Arctic expeditions, Steger, a Twin Cities native headquartered in Ely, has dedicated his life to spreading the word about global warming and its attendant perils. His global standing is unquestioned - his many honors include National Geographic Adventure magazine's lifetime achievement award. Here at home, his audience continues to grow, most notably in corporate and political circles not historically associated with urgent environmental concerns. In October, Steger joined by Tim Pawlenty at a Duluth conference on climate-change-related threats to Lake Superior. The governor had earlier announced tentative plans for a 2008 fact-finding trip to the Canadian Arctic with Steger, whom he compared to Paul Revere "issuing a call to action".

Edited by William Swanson, With Melissa Colgan, Katie Derdoski, Erin Gulden, Sarah Howard, Steve Marsh, Adam Platt, Abby Van Ness, and Megan Wiley.