Hutton Honors College

Are We Toast? A Decision-making Workshop
on Energy Policy and Climate Change

Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 * 9 a.m.-3 p.m. * HHC Building (811 E. Seventh St.) * SIGN-UP REQUIRED

This past summer may have seemed wonderfully comfortable in the Midwest; but reports released in July by the Union of Concerned Scientists warned that if significant steps are not taken to address carbon emissions, Indianapolis could experience almost a month of days with temperatures over 100 °F each summer by the end of the century; corn yields could drop by as much as 50 percent by the middle of the century; the wet parts of the country will get dramatically wetter and the dry parts drier, with dangerous storms, increased threats from wildfires, and rising sea levels. Other sources warn such changes in climate will spark major threats to international security.

• What can be done, what should be done to address the impact that human beings are having on the planet's climate?
• What tools do we already have, what alternatives should we consider, what choices can be made, what will be the costs?

In December world leaders will gather in Denmark to develop post-Kyoto Protocol policies to save the planet from global warming. Whether or not you are persuaded that climate change is a serious problem or caused by humans, policies are being made that will affect you as well as the planet. What should those policies be?

You need no expertise to participate in this decision-making workshop as HHC Dean Matt Auer, an environmental policy expert and an award-winning member of the SPEA faculty, will provide background and guidance. Using a game developed by the Princeton Environmental Institute, students will work together in teams to "solve" the looming carbon crisis and find a solution that will lead to a "cooler" future. The game will help you think, research, and negotiate as you and your teammates work to come up with a strategy to use available technologies in politically, economically, and physically possible ways.

Dean Auer's research focuses on comparative industrial environmental politics, international forest policy, and the politics of foreign aid; he has received numerous awards for teaching, including the President's Award for Teaching Excellence. This workshop is co-sponsored by the Wells Scholars Program.

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