Knox College joins National Teach-in on Global Warming, February 4-5

Knox College is participating in a cross-country conference on global warming on campus and via videoconference. The National Teach-in on Global Warming will be held February 4-5, 2009 on the Knox campus and across the country.

The Teach-in at Knox includes a facilitated discussion with Peter Schwartzman, chair of the Knox College environmental studies department, on February 5. The discussion is free and open to the public.

The program begins at 4 pm in the Umbeck Science and Mathematics Center, Room E-117, with a short video on climate change. After the video, Schwartzman will facilitate a follow-up discussion on the issues raised during the video and a videoconference with Congressman Phil Hare held the day before.

On February 4, Congressman Hare will participate in a campus-to-Congress videoconference with students from the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

"Opportunities for creative and conscientious young people to communicate directly with national leaders are rare. College students are concerned about 2050 because it is their future," says Schwartzman, who organized the events.

"This conference has been prepared by some of the most knowledgeable national leaders on the issue of climate change," Schwartzman explains. "It affords a valuable occasion to hear other voices and share our ideas."

Advisory members of the National Teach-In on Global Warming 2009 include such experts as Dr. David Orr, professor of environmental studies at Oberlin College; Dr. Stephen Schneider, professor of biological sciences at Stanford University; Dr. Mohan Munasinghe, vice chair of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); Dr. James "Gus" Speth, dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; Hunter Lovins, president of Natural Capitalism Solutions; Ross Gelbspan, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author; and Van Jones, founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 47 states and territories and 48 countries. Knox's 'Old Main' is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.