Thursday, November 1, 2012

Hannah and onshore wind and superstorms -- inconvenient facts

Actress Daryl Hannah, now become a climate activist, gives an impassioned attack on Big Oil and Coal in this editorial here, while the Guardian publishes an analysis of the cost of onshore wind in the UK.

Meanwhile Unity College faculty have reading to do (here and here) related to the impact of climate change on hurricanes and other storms. These readings are just a small part of a large portfolio given us by our college president Dr. Mulkey, who wants us all, regardless of discipline, to be "up" on such things.

(A viewpoint I agree with, and have done so for years, but one that wouldn't necessarily be popular at other colleges and universities, and indeed was not particular popular here at Unity years ago when it was first brought up. How the world turns!)

Now it's your turn:

How do you think we should power America, if we really wished to stabilize the climate at some humanly tolerable level?

And how long do you think it will take for the penny to drop, among America's public and still-burgeoning climate denier community (which seems to be able to maintain one of our two great political parties in their thrall)?

Finally, do you think college professors and their students have responsibilities in this long emergency we're currently calling climate change?

(Hint: if you choose to answer this particular essay question on your take-home exam, you'd do better to read some of these readings and think about it all first.)

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