Globally renowned activist, author and philosopher Jeremy Rifkin, will speak about environmental issues at 7:30 tonight in Schwab Auditorium.

Rifkin is one of the most influential people in the country when it comes to shaping federal government policy, according to the National Journal, a national public policy journal. The longtime activist has testified before several congressional committees, written books often used in college courses, and was selected to serve on President Carter's commission on the economic outlook for the 1980s.

Rifkin channels his power into areas where he sees potential danger in a growing, high technology society -- ozone depletion, acid rain and the greenhouse effect are a few of his favorite topics. These will be the subjects of tonight's nighttime presentation, as well as his lectures to two daytime classes.

Rifkin is best known, however, for his controversial stand on the issue of genetic engineering - the science of manipulating genes in cellular DNA to produce physical change in an organism.

The genetic engineering issue, with which Rifkin is most often identified, will undoubtedly find its way into Rifkin's lectures at the University.

"I'm sure he'll have a lot to say on that," said David Long (junior-economics) president of Eco-Action, which is sponsoring the event.

While those in the genetic engineering industry claim genetic alteration can potentially eliminate birth defects, increase crop and livestock production, and battle life-threatening disease, Rifkin argues we should re-evaluate the entire bioengineering field.

"We're now working with the blueprint of life," Rifkin told a correspondent on CNN's Cross Fire. "The real danger here is that in the name of progress, in the name of medical breakthroughs, in the name of feeding the poor, we'll be suckered into the idea that we have to cross genes between biological boundaries."

Rifkin contends that releasing genetically altered microorganisms into the environment, another practice being looked into by the industry to improve our surroundings, is simply asking for trouble.

"Genetically engineered products differ from petrochemicals," he told an Atlanta Journal reporter. "They reproduce. They grow. They migrate. With a microorganism, once it's out, the damage may be done."

Rifkin also raises moral questions surrounding the issue. He asks if it is ethically right for human beings to alter the genetic code of species.

"I think the genetics revolution raises perhaps the most impressive social questions (we) have ever had to deal with. We have to redefine life. Who do we entrust with the ultimate authority to decide which gene should be modified, changed, altered or deleted?" he told the Journal.

Rifkin's activism has gotten a swine vaccine temporarily pulled off the market, and along with a suit to the vaccine manufacturer, he filed a complaint with the National Institutes of Health, claiming the company took shortcuts in licensing the material. He also filed a suit to halt the experimental use of a non-human gene in treating a human cancer and he fought Defense Department construction of a biological-warfare facility in Utah.