University of New England

Focus the Nation at UNE

January 2008 Focus the Nation National Symposium on Climate Change

"Focus the Nation is a national teach-in engaging millions of students and citizens with political leaders and decision makers about Global Warming Solutions... More than just one day, Focus the Nation is an unprecedented educational initiative, involving over a thousand colleges, universities, high schools, middle schools, faith groups, civic organizations and businesses...  a catalyzing force helping shift the national conversation about global warming towards a determination to face this... challenge."

--Focus the Nation Website

Events Taking Place at UNE

The following events are free and open to the UNE community and general public.
 

Thursday January 24, 4 pm, St. Francis Room, UC Library

• Interdisciplinary panel featuring UNE faculty speaking on how climate change connects with each of their disciplines and/or research. Discussion following presentations.

Tuesday January 29, 8:30 pm, Multipurpose Rooms, Campus Center

• Social Movements and Climate Change: Student research presentation on how various social movements impact, and are impacted by, global climate change. Drawing inspiration from class field trips and Powershift '07, students from the UNE course ENV 322 Environmental Movements and Social Change will share ways in which the UNE community can be aware of environmental and social issues and help combat climate change on an individual basis. The students will present the work of various social movements through interactive booths, which members of the audience can visit to increase their knowledge of movements that might interest them personally. Come enjoy an evening of fun, learning, and prizes!

Wednesday January 30, 7:30 pm, Room 205 Alfond Hall

• The 2% Solution: A national, interactive webcast, airing live from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Join Stanford climate scientist Stephen Schneider, sustainability expert Hunter Lovins, green jobs pioneer Van Jones, actor and clean energy advocate Edward Norton, and youth climate leaders, for a discussion of global warming solutions. To hold global warming to the low end of 3-4 degrees F will require cuts in global warming pollution in the developed countries by more than 80% below current levels by 2050. Put another way, we need to cut roughly 2% of current emission levels a year for the next forty years. The webcast will revolve around the question: can we as a nation get on to this path, and cut global warming pollution 2% a year for the next decade? If so, what would it take? Discussion following.

Thursday January 31, 12 noon, Multipurpose Rooms, Campus Center

• Guest lecture by Dr. Stephen Vavrus, Associate Scientist, Center for Climatic Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison

  The Great Global Climate Change Experiment
  As proclaimed by scientists fifty years ago, humans are conducting an unprecedented experiment on Earth’s climate system.  The amount of heat-absorbing greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is now higher than at any time in the past several hundred thousand years and probably in the past 20 million years.  Globally averaged temperature now exceeds that at any time since accurate measurements began, and each year brings with it the expectation of near-record warmth.  Arctic sea ice area dropped to a record minimum this past summer, reaching a coverage that wasn’t expected until much later this century.  The awarding of the Nobel prize to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) epitomizes the attention being paid to this environmental issue, but how truly focused is the nation on accepting the reality of global climate change in the here-and-now, rather than as an abstract future burden?
  In this presentation Dr. Vavrus will cover primarily the science of global climate change, structured around what we know, what we think we know, and what we don’t know.  He will also cover how global warming became a household topic, some likely impacts of greenhouse warming, and what steps are or should be taken to address our changing climate.

Thursday January 31, 4 PM, Room 205 Alfond Hall

• Political roundtable discussion on climate change policies and actions between UNE students and Maine political leaders from national, state, and local levels

Friday February 1, 12 noon, Multipurpose Rooms, Campus Center

• Guest lecture by Jennifer Morgan, Director Climate and Energy Security, E3G, Third Generation Environmentalism Ltd.
  

  From Global to Local: Latest Developments on the Global Politics of Climate Change and Links to the USA
  Climate change has been a top political agenda in 2007 with Heads of State being confronted with the issue as never before. From the G8 Summit to the UN Secretary General's Special Session on Climate Change to the Climate negotiations, there is much global talk about the issue. In December 2008 representatives from over 180 countries met in Bali at the UN Climate Negotiations to decide how to respond to the latest IPCC science and the  increased pressure to act. Although the Bush Administration is still reluctant to fully join the concerted global effort to combat climate change, many American politicians, businesses and citizens are ready to engage.  What is the latest on the global politics of climate change?  How do we link the growing US national momentum to act with the global politics and negotiations?  How are other countries in Europe and Asia responding to the crisis and where does the US fit in?

Sponsored by UNE Department of Environmental Studies,
UNE Office of the Provost, UNE Environmental Council, and Earth’s ECO