March 12, 2008
Panel to discuss global warming and American politics, March 20
Thursday, March 20 at 3:30 p.m.
Higgins University Center, Tilton Hall
Clark will host a panel discussion, "Global Warming and American Politics."
The United States is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. If global warming is to be slowed and ultimately halted, the U.S. needs to be a major part of a global move toward more sustainable practices. However, for this to happen will require serious actions by the federal government, which so far has resisted calls for change from scientists, citizen organizations, and other nations.
A panel of elected officials, environmental leaders, and political analysts will explore the relationship between domestic politics in the U.S. and the prospects for policy change. Panelists include Congressman Barney Frank; Congressman James McGovern (D-MA); Kevin Knobloch, President of the Union of Concerned Scientists; Brian Cook, professor of government, Clark University. The panel will be moderated by Jim Gomes, director of the Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise at Clark.
Panelists will explore the factors are that have prevented an effective groundswell of political support for action on global warming and how our domestic political dialogue can be altered to make policy change possible. This event is offered as part of the Difficult Dialogues Program’s Spring Symposium on climate change. It is co-sponsored by the Higgins School of Humanities and the International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE) Department at Clark.
This event is free and open to the public.
For more information, call x7479. Events in the climate change symposium continue through April 17.
Visit http://www.clarku.edu/difficultdialogues for a complete listing of all events in the Difficult Dialogues Spring Symposium on climate change. Clark is one of 27 institutions of higher education selected out of 675 nationwide for a $100,000 Ford Foundation grant to facilitate a two-year program of trainings and events to encourage discourse across differences. This focus on dialogue is aimed at addressing a climate of separation and silence around difference that is too often seen, not only on campuses across the nation but in our society as a whole.