Symposium enlightens faculty, students This year's Clifford Symposium kicked off with Bill McKibben's keynote address, with events and discussions continuing throughout the weekend.

Author: Katherine Washburn

An excited crowd filed into Mead Chapel last Thursday for the launch of this year's academic symposium, "Renewal: Perspectives and Possibilities in an Age of Climate Crisis." The 2005 Clifford Symposium, focusing on current environmental issues, spanned the borders of many academic fields including politics, the arts and religion. The symposium's goals were to outline the current climate status, the impact of recent climate change on local lands, moral views on this crisis and ways to solve the problem.
The symposium was also in accordance with the Environmental Studies (ES) Program's 40th anniversary. Middlebury's ES Program is the oldest for undergraduates in the United States.
The wide variety of events for the symposium included lectures and panels, performances and the dedication of the wind turbine. The speakers came from all over - from the Middlebury campus to as far as Tuvalu. This three-day discussion of the climate crisis began with the keynote address "How Big is Too Big? Global Warming and Moral Choices," by Scholar-in-Residence in Environmental Studies Bill McKibben.
President Ronald D. Liebowitz introduced Mckibben, author of nine published books - including his most recent novel, "Wandering Home" - to an excited crowd at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 22.
McKibben began by defining global warming as "the greatest force humans have yet unleashed." Giving a brief background on the issue, he described the method through which carbon dioxide traps heat in the planet, separating the Earth as a live, lush planet from the frigid temperatures on Mars. Since humans began burning fossil fuels as an energy source, the levels of CO2 in our atmosphere have been constantly increasing. By the 1980s, computers were complex enough to show that these rising CO2 levels could be the cause of a climatic temperature increase.
Nearly a decade after this discovery, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) met in 1995 and determined that something had to change. Many of the things that experts considered to be natural occurrences in the climate and atmosphere were being drastically altered by human actions. The conference met again in 2001 and determined that the planet's temperature had risen by one degree Fahrenheit. The predicted rise by 2100 was another five degrees Fahrenheit.
Turning to concrete examples of the effects of global warming, McKibben went on to cite various recently published articles that describe the drastic increase in Category Four and Five hurricanes in the past ten years. He then tied these articles to the recent disasters of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. McKibben also described the problems associated with the melting of the polar ice caps and the falling salinity of the waters.
At the emotional height of his speech, McKibben declared that this "points out the fact that we live on a new world. These violent changes are a result of humans."
In order to demonstrate the severity of the crisis at hand, McKibben urged the audience to remember that these changes were caused by a temperature change of merely one degree Fahrenheit. He went on to pose a question: if just one degree could cause such a change in the world, what could the predicted five degree change do?
The reality of the matter is that no one person can say exactly what would happen if the Earth's temperature rose that much. McKibben suggested the startling prospect of the lack of a white winter in Vermont. Also mentioned were the possibilities of rises in malaria and other diseases.
McKibben was quick to point out that it is "far too late to prevent global warming." He did not make this point to create a feeling of despair but instead to emphasize the importance of doing as much as we possibly can to stop this crisis from going further than it already has. He emphasized the need for humans to immediately reduce their use of fossil fuels by 70 percent.
After saying that many countries across the globe were pledging to reduce their emissions drastically, McKibben stated that the United States has such a difficult time changing its way of life due to hyper-individualism. Americans have a hard time sharing, riding buses or generally doing things together. McKibben pointed out that we would need another five earths if the entire world population consumed the same amount as us.
Yet McKibben did not say or imply that we are all doomed. There are several areas where we can change our actions, he said, such as our consumption of local foods. McKibben "salute[d] the progress of the college dining staff" for making such an effort with local produce. He also told the audience, in reference to energy usage, "Do not think it needs to be grim." In fact, within the past 50 years, as the U.S. standard of living rose, the level of satisfaction with our lives has steadily fallen. His point: humans do not need to consume heavily to be satisfied.
McKibben concluded by noting that we are "in for a tremendously difficult time ahead." However, he also said that Middlebury should serve as a model, and applauded the current efforts being made on campus.
As the keynote speech ended with a standing ovation, McKibben was met with much approval. Ben Grimmnitz '08.5 felt confident about all that was said, saying that he "felt like everything he said was well grounded in facts." Emily Gaewsky '09 expressed her interest in "how McKibben talked about the environmental effects on Vermont. The idea that there might not be winter, maple trees or changing foliage really put things into perspective."
However, Will Martin '07.5, while truly impressed with the power of the speaker, was disappointed with the turnout in the audience. He said that "for a school so supposedly focused on environmental issues, we should have packed Mead Chapel." Regardless, Mckibben truly captivated the audience with his enlightening and thought provoking address on the impending crisis of global warming.