Stanford joins nationwide teach-in on global warming

NATIONWIDE EVENT INCLUDES STANFORD AND 1,200 COLLEGES
By Neil Gonzales
MediaNews
Article Launched: 02/01/2008 01:38:43 AM PST

Stanford University sophomore Sabine Bergmann wants to focus her education on issues involving global warming.

"I really want to spend my life and career on climate change," the 19-year-old said. "But there's no major geared toward that specific topic, because it's so new and cutting-edge."

But on Thursday, she went through a kind of accelerated program on the subject as some 1,500 higher-education institutions and schools across the country delved into what was described as the largest teach-in on global warming in American history.

Students, teachers, climate experts and others nationwide simultaneously participated in workshops and activities that sought to educate communities about the environmental crisis and possible solutions.

The Oregon-based environmental-advocacy group Focus the Nation spearheaded the day-long project.

Proposed curriculum

Coincidentally, proposed legislation by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, is calling for the subject of climate change to be included in California schools' science curricula.

On Wednesday, Simitian's Senate Bill 908 cleared the Senate by a 26-13 vote. It now moves to the Assembly.

"Politicians need to know this is the issue of our times, and citizens are demanding action," said Focus the Nation spokesman Alex Tinker. "This should be part of the regular curriculum."

A Webcast kicked off the campaign Wednesday, urging a decrease in carbon emissions by 2 percent annually for the next four decades to combat global warming - which many scientists believe could lead to widespread drought and other natural disasters.
The nationwide awareness-raising effort also included forums and events such as recycling contests among high schools and the turning off of campus lights at the University of Rhode Island.

According to Tinker, the campaign involved 1,200 colleges and universities and 300 schools serving kindergartners to 12th-graders, as well as 300 community groups - including the Menlo Park Green Ribbon Citizen's Committee.

Source of warming

At Stanford, students organized a conference featuring such speakers as Stephen Schneider, a climatologist and environmental professor.

The fact that the Earth was warmer 125,000 years ago doesn't mean "the current warming is natural," Schneider said. "If we understand the cause, we have to do something to reduce that cause. The cause is humans using the atmosphere to dump our tailpipe and smokestack waste."

Student organizer Noel Crisostomo, 20, said his peers got involved in the Focus the Nation project because "it's our responsibility as future leaders to educate others and to mitigate the impact of climate change."

The event is a good first step "to get the student community more involved," Bergmann added. "If we do this more, more people will get to talking about it, and the more effective it will be."

A whole generation of younger students could become more familiar with global-warming issues if Simitian's bill becomes law.

The legislation would add climate change to a list of topics including energy, water and wildlife conservation that the state requires in the environmental part of the science curriculum.

"California's students need to understand what's happening," Simitian said in a statement. "A rigorous program of science instruction has to be both current and relevant, and that certainly has to include climate change."