Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr. William Moomaw, spoke at the final presentation in the Green Living Seminar. The focus of his presentation was how the world can move toward a sustainable future. He said that the key to success is reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent over the next 50 years. That much over 50 years may seem like a lot, but according to Moomaw, this means that there would only need to be a three percent decrease each year. "Achieving a three percent per year reduction of emissions is no more than what we did when we shifted from gas lights and horse and buggies to electric lights and automobiles," he said. "We did it in about the same amount of time, and that's what's really astounding."
This should give the world hope, but one audience member was worried. They asked if this was going to cause a loss of jobs. Moomaw said that yes, after changing to automobiles, horsewhip makers no longer had a job, but there were new jobs created. He said that there will be different jobs instead of fewer jobs. This last presentation was also the fifth annual Vandais Environmental Lecture. This annual lecture is held every year in honor of Professor Lawrence Vandais and Betty Vandais, his wife. Professor Vandais is now retired. "Their contributions to the college were many," said Dr. Steve Green, Vice President of Academic Affairs, in his opening. Their contributions were mostly in the area of environmental studies. They created the Center for Resourceful Thinking, which is essentially an early form of the current Environmental Studies program.
Also at last Thursday's presentation, there was a memorial service for Dr. William Seeley. He was the Physics Department Chair, and died in September.
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