A Changing Community for a Changing Climate

Cache Valley today faces a critical task: planning a community and economy that will meet the changing realities of climate, energy, water and growth. The Focusing Cache Symposium, held Jan. 31, addresses the unique challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. The symposium is a community-wide educational event at Utah State University’s David and Ellen Stoddard Eccles Conference Center (Eccles Conference Center, approximately 550 N. 900 E.).

Faculty, students and members of the community at large are invited and encouraged to attend the free symposium.

 

Conference organizer Robert Gillies, associate professor of climate at USU and Utah Climate Center director, said the conference is an educational opportunity to involve people in understanding climate change and how it may impact them.

 

“We stand at a unique moment in history,” he said. “Decisions that are ours to make today — to stabilize our climate and invest in clean energy solutions — will have a profound impact not only on our lives, but for every human being. We owe ourselves this one day of focused discussion about the compelling problem of global warming, about our responsibility to meet this challenge and effect solutions we can develop in Utah.”

 

Focusing Cache is part of Focus the Nation, which culminates Jan. 31 in simultaneous educational symposia held across the country. The educational initiative promotes civic engagement, and each Focus team invites local, state and federal political leaders and decision makers to participate in a non-partisan discussion of global warming solutions.

 

More than 1,000 institutions, mostly colleges and universities, will participate. Other Utah institutions participating include Brigham Young University, University of Utah, Dixie State College, Utah Valley State College, Weber State University and Westminster College. Hundreds of college and university presidents have endorsed the initiative. USU is a signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, the first higher education campus in Utah to step forward.

 

Utah Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. will open the USU symposium with a video introduction.  Then Gillies joins other guest speakers in discussing a variety of topics that will affect the Cache community. Gillies served on the science panel of Huntsman’s Blue Ribbon Advisory Commission on Climate Change. He will address “The Climate in Utah’s Windshield.”

 

Other speakers include Ned Farquar, past senior policy advisor on energy for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former chair of the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority. He will address “Energy, Climate, and Security: Converging Solutions.” The Rt. Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish, 10th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah, will discuss “Ethics and Stewardship: Exploring the Moral Imperative of Climate Change.”

 

Afternoon panel discussions will include the science of climate, business and agriculture, ethics and stewardship, energy and water, health and air quality, wildlife and outdoor recreation. Professionals in varying disciplines will address the topics.

 

The symposium runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Registration is not required for attendance, but is necessary for lunch. Visit the Web site http://www.focusingcache.org/ for information.

 

Symposium sponsors from USU include the Office of the President, Office of the Provost, vice president for Extension, vice president for Research, the Agricultural Experiment Station, the Sustainability Council, College of Agriculture, College of Natural Resources, College of Education and Human Services, College of Science, the Ecology Center and the Utah Climate Center. Local sponsors include the City of Logan Environmental Department, Juniper Systems, Campbell Scientific and Cache County Planners.

 

 

 

Writer: Julene Reese, 435-797-0810
Contact: Robert Gillies, 435-797-2190