Dear Global Energy students and others, FYI:
I encourage you to consider attending this conference, April 13 and 14, co-sponsored by WUSTL, SLU, Missouri S&T, and Ameren. Info and link below.
I tweeted my concern that this might be a greenwashing moment. Given the gravity of our climate situation, the pollution in our air and water, and the need for rapid, radical change, we must never stop pushing.
WUSTL has never sponsored an event on energy that has not been corporate greenwashing of one kind or another. This is especially clear considering that every event WUSTL sponsors is co-sponsored by one or another of the fossil fuel industry (like Ameren) or other corporate interests. However, I'm waiting for the day to be proven wrong, perhaps this is it.
At least one of the invited keynote speakers seems to be on the right track, thinking climate-wise. Mark Jacobson is a Stanford engineer who developed the Solutions Project which offers real ideas for getting to 100% renewables by 2050. (Missouri could do it with mostly wind and solar). That's the kind of radical, near utopian thinking we need, and most folks at WUSTL are far behind that. Not to mention Ameren, which has joined with the coal industry to fight against Obama's very modest Clean Power Plan. We are going to talk about the Solutions Project in the coming lectures, but I was pleasantly surprised to see his name on this agenda. Nonetheless, co-sponsorship by Ameren raises my concerns about what the tone and the direction of the event might be. Could be interesting. Jacobson speaks on the 13th at 1:15 PM.
WUSTL students can register and attend for free. I'm not sure why they charge for this other than to keep the public out. See the attached links for the schedule. I am very curious to hear how they 'narrate' (produce discourse about) energy and change in the STL region. It's a great opportunity to watch change or anti-change in action.
You can get more information and register here: http://sefconf.mst.edu/agenda/
P.S. Learning about coal and criminality in real-time: You may have seen that the coal-man Blankenship, whose actions led to the deaths of 29 men, was sentenced to 1 year in federal prison last Wednesday. A bittersweet victory. He will appeal. It remains to be seen whether he will be allowed to stay free on bond or will have to report to prison in the meanwhile. I posted links to an amazing picture and a great story about the relatives' reaction here.
Cheers,
Bret Gustafson
