Environmental Stewardship Award
National Teach-In On Climate Change
This year students, educators and community members around the country are talking about policy prescriptions and how President Obama can address Climate Change. Join ISU faculty members on February 4th - 5th and find out what we know about Climate Change and how we can address it.
Bone Student Center 3rd Floor East Lounge
Sponsored by the International Seminar Series, Dr. Dagmar Budikova, Associate Professor (Geography-Geology) and GEOMAP Program Director, will give an overview of the current science. Refreshments provided
Bone Student Center Circus Room
Dr. Joan M. Brehm, Assistant Professor of Sociology
“Green the Public Square”, The Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies
The policy proposal presented by the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies calls for immediate action by the new administration on linking economic stimulus monies with the need for a greening of all public facilities. Amitai Etzioni, Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies at The George Washington University, argues that “focusing on public facilities first is important because these are much more amenable to guidance from the government, and one can expect much quicker results than in dealing with the private sector. Federal agencies can be turned around by executive order. For example, the military can be ordered by the commander in chief to proceed with greening forthwith. As far as greening is concerned, public facilities, to use a tired cliché, are the low-hanging fruit.” Although other, more expansive and comprehensive ‘greening’ policies have been discussed with the new administration, the “Green the Public Square” policy has the advantage of rather quick initiation by the executive branch in those first 100 days and shows that our government is leading by example.
Dr. Stephen J. Van der Hoven, Associate Professor, Department of Geography-Geology
Water supply
Water is arguably our most important natural resource, and can be considered a national security and economic issue. In the U.S., water resources (rivers, lakes, groundwater) are regulated at the state level. However, these water resources frequently cross political boundaries. I would argue that we need a federal policy on managing water resources that still respects the rights of states. For example, the federal government could convene regional working groups to discuss how shared resources should be managed. In addition, there is a critical lack of information on the size of our groundwater resources, and how both surface and subsurface water resources will respond to climate change. We have only begun to study the effects of climate change on water resources, and the federal government should provide the funding for long term monitoring of water quality and quantity, maintain a database of water resources, and provide funding for research on the effects of climate change.
Dr. Jeffrey Courtright, Associate Professor, School of Communication
President Obama: Let All Voices Be Heard
Through cable’s Weather Channel and Discovery’s Planet Green, and movies such as An Inconvenient Truth and The 11th Hour, it would seem that a particular view of Global Warming and its effects have had a strong impact on public opinion. Although acceptance of global warming as a fact has increased in the last 10 years, studies and polls suggest that there is no public consensus as to how much of a problem it is or as to whether it should be given the level of attention President Obama gave the issue during the 2008 election campaign or in his inaugural address. Even though other concerns (e.g., the economy, jobs, energy) are at the top of the public agenda, how can the President fairly address the issue so that debate results in a workable policy that is good for the U.S. and respected by other nations?
Dr. Dan Holland – Professor, Physics
Alternative energy (fuel efficiency or alternative fuels for cars)
Dr. Johanna Haas, Assistant Professor Department of Geography-Geology
Enforcement of existing environmental laws
During the 1970’s, the US Congress passed a set of strong environmental laws. During the decades since then, those laws have tweaked and fiddled until they do not have the strength they once had. President Obama made a strong environmental move by restoring California to the test-case state that the Clean Air Act accorded to it. Now, we need to look at other laws and reinforce their enforcement, before we go to taking additional steps.
Dr. Tom Bierma, Professor, Environmental Health
Why Americans Should Demand Higher Fuel Prices
High oil prices in recent years have stimulated an array of promising alternative fuel sources, from re-vegetating Haiti with oil-producing Jatropha, to turning trash into ethanol. The current drop in oil prices could delay these innovations for years and keep the U.S. dependent on fossil fuels. Low energy prices provide a rare opportunity to use revenue-neutral policies to create higher fossil fuel prices and stimulate innovation without slowing the economy.
