Speaker Series: Critical Issues in Climate Change

Critical Issues in Climate Change
The Green Economy and Clean Energy: Implications from the Gulf Oil Spill

-Thursday, June 17, 9:00 a.m., Columbus Room, Union Station-

Oil in the Gulf of Mexico (Photo: Reuters)

Over the past two months, millions of gallons of oil have flowed into the Gulf of Mexico – the most catastrophic oil spill ever. The extent of the damage it has created is still unclear, but a severe impact has already been seen in wildlife populations, polluted shorelines and illnesses experience by local residents and clean-up workers.

In light of this ongoing crisis, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies chose to focus the first Critical Issues in Climate Change Speaker Series around the oil spill and its implications to the growing green economy and movement toward clean energy.

According to the Joint Center’s official statement on the Gulf oil spill, “Without addressing energy sovereignty in the U.S., our coasts will continue to bear the brunt of our collective addiction to oil.” The move toward clean, renewable energy, and the subsequent development of a green economy, is a key to environmental and economic sustainability and success.

Joining host and Joint Center President and CEO Ralph B. Everett at the inaugural speaker series are:

• Leslie G. Fields, Esq., National Environmental Justice Director for the Sierra Club and member of the Commission to Engage African Americans on Climate Change;

• Dr. Arjun Makhijani, author and President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research;

• Dr. Michael K. Dorsey, assistant professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College and visiting scholar at the Joint Center;

• Daniel J. Weiss, Senior Fellow and Director of Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress.

See the full invitation after the jump.

Global Warming and Grim Atlantic Hurricane Season Bodes Hazardous for Communities of Color

Recent reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) suggest that the ongoing oil spill may not be the only disaster the Gulf Coast has to face this year.

The decade from 2000 to 2009 marked the warmest global temperatures on record, and despite unexpectedly heavy snowfall in the U.S. at the beginning of this year, 2010 is predicted to follow suit. Based on monthly analysis conducted by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, the period from January to April produced the hottest combined global land and ocean surface temperature since formal measurements began in 1880. The combined average surface temperatures from January to April exceeded measurements taken in the 20thcentury by 1.24°F (0.69°C), reflecting global warming predictions. Similarly, global ocean surface temperatures in April marked the warmest for that month in over a century, with NOAA observing rising heat “most pronounced in the equatorial portions of the major oceans, especially the Atlantic.”

Comparison of 2010 Temperature to the Two Other Years with the Warmest Annual Means

[Extracted from NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies “GISS Surface Temperature Analysis” Last Modified: 05-17-2010]