Topic: Global Warming
Professor pens editorial on pending climate change legislation
Rob Kugler, Paul S. Wright Professor of Christian Studies:
Kugler, chair of the Religious Studies Department, published an editorial that highlights his concerns for leaving future generations a livable planet. In addition to his role as professor, Kugler serves as the coordinator for Lewis & Clark’s participation in the National Teach-In on Global Warming, a day-long event involving tens of thousands of college students nationwide who engage with faculty and public leaders in dialogue about public policy solutions to stem the rise in the earth’s temperature.
He frames his argument through a biblical lens: “Jesus, a fairly sharp observer of human nature, argued that parents, when their children ask for bread, are unlikely to give stone instead (Matt 7:9). Tragically, Jesus’ confidence in us is in doubt. Although our children would ask for bread — a future free of the consequences of human-caused climate change — our actions so far have assured them only stone.”
Kugler teaches courses on Jewish and Christian origins, including courses on both the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and New Testament. His special area of research deals with the interface between the sociohistorical contexts of early Judaism and Christianity and the religions’ interpretation of their received texts and traditions. Kugler was named Professor of the Year by Lewis & Clark students in 2007.
The Oregonian Bread, not stone
Economics professor quoted in U.S. News
Professor of Economics Eban Goodstein is quoted in a recent in U.S. News & World Reports about a trend in educating youth about conservation. Goodstein, co-director of National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions, led 804 institutions and 250,000 people in a “day of engagement” on February 5. The teach-in was designed to bring college students together to discuss global warming and policy solutions and included student participation with members of Congress through videoconferences. On the generation this teach-in targeted, Goodstein said, “Students have a truly heroic task that they have no choice but to fulfill in their lifetimes. [The task is] saving the planet as we know it, so that their children can also inherit a beautiful and rich planet.”
US News (Washington, D.C.) The Future of Climate Change: How to Teach Children to Conserve
Students contribute to study on Oregon’s dying trees
Ecological data collection conducted by undergraduate students during a College Outdoors trip has been included in a Science journal paper titled “Widespread Increase of Tree Mortality Rates in the Western United States.” The paper discusses the mortality rate of trees in the Pacific Northwest and southern British Columbia. Studies show that the rate of tree death in this area has doubled in only 17 years. This can partially be attributed to the fact that temperatures have risen over one degree Fahrenheit over the past 30 years, leading to droughts and an abundance of insects and disease. Their research contributions on the changing dynamics of western forests has recently drawn the attention of a number of high-profile national and international media outlets.
Lewis & Clark students have collected data for the Franklin lab every August since 2006 as part of the Environmental Service Project. Alum and 2006 Break Away trip leader Brian Erickson ‘06 said, “We returned to plots that were established 30-plus years previously and remeasured every five to 10 years to provide an ongoing image of forest dynamics over time. The students collected high-quality data, worked extremely hard, learned a lot, and had a good time in the process.”
New York Times (New York, NY) Environment Blamed in Western Tree Deaths
Seattle Times (Seattle, Wash.) Regional warming hurting NW forests, study says
BBC News (London, UK) Climate shift ‘killing US trees’
Preparing students for lives as public leaders
Eban Goodstein serves as a professor of economics at Lewis & Clark. He also directs the National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions, a project designed to harness the energy and interests of today’s college students to pressure political leaders to cut carbon emissions and pursue climate change policies. Goodstein insists that his role as educator requires him to help students build critical thinking skills to face the most difficult political, scientific and economic challenges of our time. In this commentary, he calls on his peers to see their roles as not only educators in their fields but guides to our citizenry and future public leaders.
The National Teach-In takes place on February 5 and includes more than 700 colleges, universities, and faith and civic organizations around the country who will discuss the goal of cutting current carbon levels by 40 percent by 2020. This teach-in will include lectures, faculty and student symposia, theater performances, and active engagement with political leaders and their environmental policies.
Watch this video of Eban Goodstein and colleagues discussing the importance of youth involvement in the National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions:
Inside Higher Ed (Portland, Ore.) Education or Advocacy? Engaging a Hotter World
The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) National “global warming teach-in” returns to Oregon
Professor of Economics Eban Goodstein prepares for new climate-change teach-in
Professor of Economics Eban Goodstein is working to create another global warming teach-in, called the National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions, on February 5. Goodstein organized Focus the Nation, a nationwide dialog about climate change, last January; his new project will concentrate on the climate change policies put in place within President-Elect Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office. Goodstein is optimistic that this project will draw large crowds the way Focus the Nation did, which included 1,900 participating colleges and groups. “This is a time for young people to engage with political leaders in Washington and basically spend a day learning, and take that learning to decision makers,” said Goodstein.
The Chronicle of Higher Education (Arlington, Va.) Professor Who Organized Climate-Change Project Plans Another Teach-In
Alum Julian Dautremont-Smith discusses colleges’ progress toward carbon-neutrality goal
As the associate director of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, Julian Dautremont-Smith ‘03, promotes sustainability in all aspects of the higher education sector including governance, operations, curriculum, and professional development. He recently offered his perspective on the progress colleges are making toward meeting goals outlined in the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, (ACUPCC) a project designed to make the higher education sector carbon neutral.
Though less than one-half of the institutions met the September milestone for submitting reports on their greenhouse-gas emissions, Dautremont-Smith is confident that the data gathered from public reports will provide this environmental cause with a sufficient stepping stone: “Our sense of it is this is a long-term commitment, multi-decade for most schools, so we’re not going to fret about being behind a little on this particular deadline.”
See the progress Lewis & Clark is making toward its ACUPCC goals and learn about the institution’s greenhouse-gas report online.
Inside Higher Ed (Washington, D.C.) In Quest for Carbon Neutrality, Late out of the Gate
Goodstein, professor of economics, delivers climate change message at music festival
Eban Goodstein, professor of economics:
On July 5, Eban Goodstein, project director of Focus the Nation, will participate in the Rothbury Festival Think Tank project, Finding Energy Independence, an issues-based event that runs in conjunction with the famous music festival. While Goodstein is at the festival he will also pick up an “e-achievement” award from etown, an NPR radio program featuring music and people making a difference in the world.
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