Conferences:
MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL OF LAW TO HOST CONFERENCE ON
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
Event Will Offer Presentations on Timely Environmental Concerns;
Nationally Recognized Experts Will Speak to All Aspects of This Critical Issue
A number of high-profile professionals from the scientific, political and environmental community are scheduled to conduct presentations geared towards helping attendees understand the scope of the problem; the threats that it presents to our health as well as our national security; and the way that we can all adopt more sustainable lifestyles to mitigate the worst effects of global climate change.
Among the presenters will be retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel John T. Ackerman, PhD, an assistant professor of National Security Studies at the Air Command and Staff College (ACSC). Located at Maxwell Air Force Base AL, ACSC is the United States Air Force’s intermediate professional military education (PME) school, preparing field grade officers of all services, international officers, and US civilians to assume positions of higher responsibility within the military and other government arenas.
Also slated to appear is Lori A. Ehrlich, State Representative for the 8th Essex District in Massachusetts. Ehrlich has championed The Global Warming Solutions Act, a nationally unprecedented legislative package of green energy initiatives; Massachusetts Governor Patrick recently signed this landmark legislation into law.
Other scheduled presenters at the conference include:
- Lilah Glick, Global Warming Coordinator for Clean Water Action
- Cameron Wake,Research Associate Professor, University of New Hampshire. .
- Timothy McKeown, Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina.
- Patrick A. Parenteau,Senior Counsel to the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic and Professor of Law, Vermont Law School
- Joseph Gregory, Assistant Director of Sustainability for the Real Estate Division of Harvard University.
- Kurt Olson, Assistant Professor, Massachusetts School of Law.
Following is a synopsis of the scheduled presentations:
Session I: It’s Just the Accepted Science
This session will focus on the consensus in the scientific community that global climate change is now inevitable.
Session II: Threats to Biological Diversity and Human Health
This session will focus on widely acknowledged threats to biological diversity and the potentially widespread adverse impacts on human health.
Session III: Promoting Sustainability at Home and at the Office
This session will focus on ways in which we can all adopt more sustainable lifestyles to mitigate the worst effects of global climate change.
Session IV: Threats to National Security
This session will focus on the likelihood that climate change could spark conflicts over natural resources including oil, water, and food during this century.
Session V: Debunking the Industry Deniers
This session will focus on how the energy industry continues to fund think tanks and talking heads to sow doubt about the legitimacy of climate change science
Olson, an organizer of the conference, says the conference is particularly timely, given the proximity to the presidential election. “With the candidates debating the various critical issues, global climate change will be part of that discussion,” he said. “This conference will help attendees understand the issue more clearly and will focus attention on a problem that will have to be dealt with head-on by our next president.”
The conference is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is not required, but anyone wishing to attend is encouraged to call Laura Lussier at (978) 681-0800, ext. 110, or e-mail kolson@mslaw.edu.
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