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Global warming speaker stresses activism
Environmentalist Bill McKibben encourages a community-level approach to activism
by Braden Wolf | Freelance Reporter |
About 800 people flooded the EMU Ballroom Tuesday night to hear noted author and environmentalist Bill McKibben's lecture about the eminent threat posed to the planet by global warming.
McKibben spoke about his early days in the global warming movement, where the movement stands today, and what people can do to enact real change. He emphasized the subtext of his remarks, which, as he put it, was, "If I can do this, anyone can do this."
"This needs to become our equivalent to the civil rights movement," McKibben said. "It needs to be just as passionate, just as strong, and just as powerful."
The presentation, titled "Building the Climate Movement," was brought to campus by the Oregon Humanities Center as part of the Luther S. Cressman Lecture Series. The series was named after Luther Cressman, who was known as the Father of Oregon Archaeology for his research questioning the standing theories about the prehistoric Northwest, said Julia Heydon, the associate director of the humanities center.
"I heard an interview with Bill McKibben on Alternative Radio about his book, 'Deep Economy,' a few months ago, and I was impressed by how thoughtful and well-spoken he was," Heydon said. "I wanted to bring to campus someone who was actively working on the problem of global warming and its underlying causes, and after consulting with a number of environmental studies faculty on campus I decided that McKibben would be a good choice."
The purpose of the Cressman lectures is to "present and illuminate fundamental humanities issues that confront societies centrally occupied with science, technology, and business," according to the humanities center's Web site. Global warming seems like a natural subject for the humanities center to choose.
The humanities center will also be hosting Stanford biologist Stephen Schneider on March 4, 2008 as the Robert D. Clark Lecturer in the Humanities. This program, which will be co-sponsored by the Environmental Studies Program, will also focus on global warming.
McKibben spoke about his early days in the global warming movement, where the movement stands today, and what people can do to enact real change. He emphasized the subtext of his remarks, which, as he put it, was, "If I can do this, anyone can do this."
"This needs to become our equivalent to the civil rights movement," McKibben said. "It needs to be just as passionate, just as strong, and just as powerful."
The presentation, titled "Building the Climate Movement," was brought to campus by the Oregon Humanities Center as part of the Luther S. Cressman Lecture Series. The series was named after Luther Cressman, who was known as the Father of Oregon Archaeology for his research questioning the standing theories about the prehistoric Northwest, said Julia Heydon, the associate director of the humanities center.
"I heard an interview with Bill McKibben on Alternative Radio about his book, 'Deep Economy,' a few months ago, and I was impressed by how thoughtful and well-spoken he was," Heydon said. "I wanted to bring to campus someone who was actively working on the problem of global warming and its underlying causes, and after consulting with a number of environmental studies faculty on campus I decided that McKibben would be a good choice."
The purpose of the Cressman lectures is to "present and illuminate fundamental humanities issues that confront societies centrally occupied with science, technology, and business," according to the humanities center's Web site. Global warming seems like a natural subject for the humanities center to choose.
The humanities center will also be hosting Stanford biologist Stephen Schneider on March 4, 2008 as the Robert D. Clark Lecturer in the Humanities. This program, which will be co-sponsored by the Environmental Studies Program, will also focus on global warming.
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loonygopher
Juola (Joe) A. Haga
posted 11/01/07 @ 5:04 AM PST
Prospects are grim. Sclerotic institutions concentrate on irrelevancies. The species, homo sapiens, as a natural process risks extinction. By 2025 arable lands will likely have dwindled because of drought and torrential flooding brought on by untimely changes to the climate. (Continued…)
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