Panel to discuss world climate policy

Law school brings experts together to consider solutions to global warming

A group of law school professors are composing a book on government failure to address global warming. In an effort to increase expert input for the book the law school is playing host to several experts across a variety of academic fields.

By Dylan Sands

Friday, October 19th, 2007

It is the middle of October and many Kansans are still wearing shorts. Despite what others might think, researchers at the University of Kansas say this is not a good thing.

The School of Law on Saturday will play hosts to experts in fields from natural sciences to philosophy to discuss current policies on climate change Saturday. “Facts, Ideas and U.S. Climate Change Policy: A Conference on Climate Change” will feature a panel of experts from around the world to present research concerning global climate change. They hope to come to an agreement on suggestions for local and federal policy concerning the issue.

Robert Glicksman, KU professor of law, said he and other law professors were working on a book which details U.S. policy on climate change. The experts attending the conference originally were invited to contribute to the book.

“We figured as long as we have these experts in town, it’d be a great opportunity to inform the public on these important issues,” he said.

Glicksman said the U.S. government was not doing enough to curb some of the long-term effects of global warming.

“The main thesis of the book is that the federal government doesn’t act because of commitments to free market ideology,” Glicksman said.

He went on to say that the government tended to believe imposing changes on businesses’ carbon dioxide emissions and other factors that contribute to climate change would cost more money than it was worth.

“Cost-benefit analysis done by government agencies sacrifices long-term environmental action for short term economical gains,” he said. “They often think there is a lot of scientific uncertainty.”

“When we’re talking about the extinction of species or the obliteration of a city because of flooding, it is difficult to figure a monetary value.”

David Braaten, professor of atmospheric science and deputy director of the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets at KU, said local and federal policymakers often ignored the issue and its long-term effects. He said government officials were typically concerned with the next election, not the next generation.

“I’m not sure they want my opinion,” Braaten said. “Some of the rhetoric is that the science is uncertain, that’s not true. The science is as solid as science gets. I think politicians use that as an excuse for not doing anything policy-wise. We don’t need another 10 years to say there is a big change happening.”

Braaten said that people were also still wearing shorts in Greenland, where a good deal of ice sheet research was done. He said rising global temperatures were producing scary side effects where the weather was usually extremely cold.

“The surface melt is increasing and is extending well into the fall,” he said. “We are seeing entire lakes on ice sheets in September. This is something we’ve never really seen before. It should be getting cold and it’s not. It’s very dramatic.”

Ben Zimmerman, Dodge City third-year law student and president of the Environmental Law Society, said other students could use their voice to produce profound policy change regarding global warming.

“Climate change policies have largely been ineffective, but today the increasing weight of scientific evidence and public opinion provides the opportunity for meaningful policy ideas to become legal realities,” Zimmerman said.

The conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. to noon Saturday in 104 Green Hall. The conference is open to the public.

— Edited by Jeff Briscoe

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