On 24 November 2009, the Ecologic Institute was invited to address students in a lecture series titled “Generation Green: Germany and the Environment”  organized by the Center for German Studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. The course explored how and why Germany's Green movement addressed  pressing environmental challenges a generation before the release of Al  Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth", allowing students to consider how specific cultural contexts shape personal attitudes, public policies and  technological advances. Michael Mehling shared insights on “Germany's Ecological Tax Reform: Perspectives from a Think Tank”.