Focusing the Nation on Global Warming

Focus the Nation, a massive Jan. 31 national teach-in on global warming solutions, marshaled the support and participation of more than 1,500 colleges and universities across America. Headquartered at Lewis & Clark College, it was the brainchild of Lewis & Clark College economics professor Eban Goodstein.

News Sources: 'Water Wars' in the Southeast

Georgia, Florida and Alabama have agreed to a federally-drafted plan for sharing water, temporarily calming a vicious battle over nature's most valuable resource. An extended drought has left southeastern states critically short of water. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, includign the following (click on names for contact information):

Jill S. Schneiderman - Professor of Geology, Vassar College - Schneiderman is an expert on U.S. environmental policies, natural resource use, property rights and takings, and the environmental aspects of sustainable forestry and agriculture, and the environmental impact of war. She studies metropolitan water supplies, growth of cities, environmental justice, river processes and flooding.

David R. Orvos - Associate professor of environmental science, Sweet Briar College - Orvos has seven years of environmental consulting and industry experience. He’s doing research on lake and river ecosystems, and also can discuss climate change, watersheds, water quality and risk assessment.

Noelwah R. Netusil - Associate Professor of Economics, Reed College - Netusil is an expert on natural resource economics. Her interests have included the effects of gold mining on water-related resources in the Humboldt River Basin, Nevada, and nonpoint source pollution from agriculture. See her Web site at http://www.reed.edu/~netusil/ for details.

What to Do about Wildfires?

As the latest round of wildfires continue to burn in California, leaving residents and authorities are wrestling with the same problem being faced in places like Australia, India and British Columbia. "They're living in ecosystems that burn up all the time, because that's what they do," says Char Miller, visiting professor at Pomona College. Miller says the dilemma is just another byproduct of population growth and the sprawling presence of human beings.

Kennedy Blasts Administration, Media

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accuses the Bush administration of overseeing more than 400 major environmental rollbacks "as part of a deliberate, concerted effort to eviscerate 30 years of environmental law." In a recent speech at DePauw University, Kennedy - who is senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and president of Waterkeeper Alliance - also lambasted the media for giving the public more information about Anna Nicole Smith, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan than about global warming.

Sounding the Alarm for Leaf-Peepers

Tree species are being affected by global warming, and that in turn is hurting the fall foliage in the Northeast, says Hamilton College Professor of Biology Ernest H. Williams, Jr. Warmer climates are causing a decline in the sugar maples and red maples that are responsible for most of the magnificent oranges and reds, says Williams, who is the author of The Nature Handbook: A Guide to Observing the Great Outdoors.

Middlebury Lauded for Sustainability Efforts

Middlebury College has set a goal of becoming carbon neutral by the year 2016, and its efforts are gaining national attention. The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) presented Middlebury its annual Campus Sustainability Leadership Award.

News Sources: Mexican Trucks Roll in U.S.

The Bush administration is proceeding with a pilot program to allow up to 100 Mexican trucking firms to haul their cargo anywhere in the United States. The program has drawn the ire of Teamsters and members of Congress, who charge it is an attempt at "union-busting" and doesn't address environemental and safety concerns. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Jorge Gonzalez - Associate Professor of Economics, Trinity University - Gonzalez is an expert in trading patterns between Mexico and the U.S., intra-industry trading, the economic impact of immigration, political economy of international trade, and the Mexican economy. His most recent research "The Term Structure of Interest Rates and the Mexican Economy," was published in Contemporary Economic Policy.

Raymond Robertson - Associate Professor of Economics, Macalester College - Robertson specializes in Latin American economic policy. Most of his research is conducted in Mexico, where he has lived. He can discuss a range of issues including the effects of NAFTA on Mexico, unskilled workers, and foreign investment in Mexico.

Elizabeth DeSombre - Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Wellesley College - Desombre can speak on international environmental politics and law. Her research projects include the use of economic sanctions for environmental goals, the relationship between trade and environment, and environmental, labor and safety standards on ocean ships.

Orr in"The 11th Hour"

Oberlin College faculty member and noted environmentalist David Orr appears in Leonardo DiCaprio’s feature-length eco-documentary, 'The 11th Hour." Besides being interviewed and appearing in the film- which just opened in this country in limited release - Orr served as an advisor, He assisted the directors in identifying specific themes and experts and reviewing final cuts—the culmination of 150 interviews with 70 commentators.

Historic Pollution Research Papers Released

Pollution in Maine's Androscoggin River prompted the enactment of the federal Clean Water Act of 1972. The papers of a Bates College professor whose decades of reseach were crucial to that effort have been opened to researchers - coincidentally, just as the state Board of Environmental Protection prepares to revisit a controversial 2005 pollution plan involving an Androscoggin paper company.