Confronting Climate Change
Confronting Climate Change (24min) with Elizabeth Kolbert, Van Jones, James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Rob Nixon, Maxine Burkett, Stephen Gardiner and Mark Tercek. Produced by Sarah Gardner. Directed by Dave Simonds.
Journalist Elizabeth Kolbert hosts a searching conversation with leading environmentalists.
The Williams College Center for Environmental Studies was founded in 1967. In honor of the 50th anniversary, the College invited a series of prominent speakers to address the topic “Confronting Climate Change.” CES Fellow Elizabeth Kolbert invited some of them to the Center for Environmental Studies to discuss what has been called the defining issue of our time.
Maxine Burkett (Williams ’98) is a Professor of law at the University of Hawaii, whose scholarship and activism focus on international climate justice and adaptation for island peoples and the most vulnerable. Maxine is a 2016 Bicentennial Medalist at Williams College. She visited Williams October 6, 2016.
Stephen Gardiner is professor of Human Dimensions of the Environment and director of the Program on Values in Society in the Philosophy Department at the University of Washington, Seattle. He is the author of “A Perfect Moral Storm: the Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change.” He visited Williams Feb. 28, 2017.
James Hansen headed NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies from 1981 to 2013. He is sometimes referred as the “father of climate change awareness” and was among the first scientists to warn of the dangers of global warming. He is the author of “Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Change Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity.” He visited Williams on March 8, 2017.
Van Jones is a CNN contributor. He is the author of two best-selling books, “The Green Collar Economy” and “Rebuild the Dream.” He is a founder of Green for All and The Dream Corp. He visited Williams on September 28, 2016.
Bill McKibben is an author and environmentalist. His 1989 book “The End of Nature” was the first book for a general audience about climate change. He’s gone on to write a dozen more books. He is a founder of 350.org. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, National Geographic, and Rolling Stone. He visited Williams on April 20, 2017.
Rob Nixon is a professor in the Humanities and the Environment at Princeton. He is affiliated with the Princeton Environmental Institute’s initiative in the environmental humanities. Among his many books are “Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor” and “Dreambirds: The Natural History of a Fantasy.” He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times. He visited Williams on April 27, 2017.
Mark Tercek (Williams ’79) is president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy and a trustee of Williams College. He is a former managing director and partner for Goldman, Sachs, and is a co-author of “Nature’s Fortune.” He visited Williams on October 12, 2016.
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Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff writer at The New Yorker. She received the Pulitzer Prize for her book “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History.” She is a fellow at the Williams College Center for Environmental Studies.
Sarah Gardner (producer) has been with The Center for Environmental Studies since 2002. She produced the award winning documentary film “Forgotten Farms.”
Dave Simonds (director) is a filmmaker, writer and actor living in Williamstown. He directed the documentaries “Cherry Cottage; the Story of an American House,” the award winning, “Forgotten Farms,” and he is currently at work on “The Hoy Boys” and “Free Advice from an Old Guy.”
