Al Gore Delivers Sustainability Speech to Students; Praises HKS
by Alex Zheng on October 29, 2008 in Features
Harvard University held its first-ever Sustainability Celebration last Wednesday, October 23. The event, which featured former Vice-President Al Gore (Harvard College ’69), kicked off a Harvard-wide commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent (below 2006 levels) by the year 2016.
Despite the cold weather, an estimated 15,000 students and faculty attended Gore’s keynote address. With the Tercentenary Theater filled to capacity, students parked on the steps of Widener Library and huddled together on the lawn.
Harvard President Drew Faust was first to take the stage. She spoke about the role of universities in addressing climate change, and highlighted Harvard’s contributions to the field – among them, its pioneering methods for measuring carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.
President Faust also cited recent work by HKS Professor William C. Clark to develop ideas for reducing Harvard’s greenhouse gas emissions. Prof. Clark is currently the Chairman of Harvard University’s Greenhouse Gas Task Force.
President Faust then turned over the stage to Al Gore, who addressed the difficulty of managing CO2 levels in the atmosphere. He noted that until recently, many believed that the atmosphere was too vast to be affected by human behavior. Gore said that since the industrial revolution, however, increased emissions have changed the atmosphere’s composition, exacerbating the greenhouse effect and causing global warming.
Gore outlined three factors driving this trend: (1) global population growth; (2) scientific and technological advances that enhance our ability to impact the environment; and (3) the short-term decision horizons of business and government, which preclude leaders from effectively addressing this long-term problem.
The former vice president and presidential nominee also shared his worries about the current state of American politics. Gore cited a lack of reason and the minimal role played by science in current political discourse, and the resulting implications for long-term sustainability.
He also spoke about America’s dependence on oil as a major contributing factor to the crises currently facing the country, including the war in Iraq, the recent financial crisis, and global warming. This dependence, Gore suggested, leads the United States to become involved in unstable regions of the word, putting the country’s financial health on the line and sapping valuable military resources.
According to Gore, the central challenge for humankind is to decide to act on climate change. Gore praised HKS for its doing its part; for conducting research on ways to help America transition in the next ten years to 100 percent renewable sources of power. Gore believes it is possible, but political will is needed. Fortunately, according to Gore, that too is a renewable resource.
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