Students Welcome Boston University Professor for Sustainability Presentation
Issue date: 3/25/09 Section: Features
By Corey Morris
Rotunda Reporter
Students, faculty and staff filled Wygal Hall Tuesday, March 24, to witness Dr. Henrik Selin, from Boston University's department of international relations, present a forum on energy sustainability and climate change titled, "Sustainability and International Cooperation on Environmental Issues." Among his impressive accomplishments, Selin, who was born in Sweden and has spent eight years in the States, is an affiliate with MIT, a member of an international energy forum based in Sweden, and the author of two forthcoming books regarding climate change and politics.
Selin began his presentation by showing the audience the famous photograph of the "Blue Marble," photograph of Earth taken from Apollo 17 in 1972. He noted feeling an importance that people should know about their natural world and how "passengers" on "spaceship Earth" commonly change their only home available, not so much for the better. He said, "Actions and choices of individuals adhere to climate change," and added, "No action is the strongest action" to further complicate the impending doom yet to come. Selin did acknowledge mankind did not cause the past warming and cooling trends, which occurred thousands of years ago on Earth.
Throughout his presentation, Selin made clear that sustainability is a responsibility for both industrial and developing countries. However, when posed with the question of selling the idea of a climate crisis to underdeveloped corners of the world, Selin was unable to present a clear answer. He said that such a plan of sustainability would be difficult to present to an African country, so they would not believe the superpowers of the world would be trying to hold underdeveloped countries down so they will not be able to flourish in the future. China was by far his most used example, since China is at the top of the greenhouse gas emissions list. He felt that China and top greenhouse gas emitting states in America should lead the way in climate change and sustainability reform.
Selin was brought in as part of the latest installment of Longwood's Diversity Day program, designed to enrich the minds of Longwood University students. The presentation is meant to be a precursor for the planned energy conference to be held at the university in 2010.
Rotunda Reporter
Students, faculty and staff filled Wygal Hall Tuesday, March 24, to witness Dr. Henrik Selin, from Boston University's department of international relations, present a forum on energy sustainability and climate change titled, "Sustainability and International Cooperation on Environmental Issues." Among his impressive accomplishments, Selin, who was born in Sweden and has spent eight years in the States, is an affiliate with MIT, a member of an international energy forum based in Sweden, and the author of two forthcoming books regarding climate change and politics.
Selin began his presentation by showing the audience the famous photograph of the "Blue Marble," photograph of Earth taken from Apollo 17 in 1972. He noted feeling an importance that people should know about their natural world and how "passengers" on "spaceship Earth" commonly change their only home available, not so much for the better. He said, "Actions and choices of individuals adhere to climate change," and added, "No action is the strongest action" to further complicate the impending doom yet to come. Selin did acknowledge mankind did not cause the past warming and cooling trends, which occurred thousands of years ago on Earth.
Throughout his presentation, Selin made clear that sustainability is a responsibility for both industrial and developing countries. However, when posed with the question of selling the idea of a climate crisis to underdeveloped corners of the world, Selin was unable to present a clear answer. He said that such a plan of sustainability would be difficult to present to an African country, so they would not believe the superpowers of the world would be trying to hold underdeveloped countries down so they will not be able to flourish in the future. China was by far his most used example, since China is at the top of the greenhouse gas emissions list. He felt that China and top greenhouse gas emitting states in America should lead the way in climate change and sustainability reform.
Selin was brought in as part of the latest installment of Longwood's Diversity Day program, designed to enrich the minds of Longwood University students. The presentation is meant to be a precursor for the planned energy conference to be held at the university in 2010.
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