Out of Town Guests

Tyler Volk: Scientist and philosopher Tyler Volk will unlock the simple mystery of the carbon cycle. The author of five books, Volk speaks and writes eloquently about the greatest environmental challenge we face, global warming. He teaches biology and earth science at NYU, directing their Environmental Studies program.; Bill McKibben says of Volk's book CO2 Rising: “Tyler Volk lays out the numbers to show why we need a far more urgent and dramatic response to global warming than we've attempted to date.”
Steve Early: Labor activist, union organizer, attorney and journalist Steve Early just published Embedded with Organized Labor. In the trenches at the Communication Workers of America for twenty years, Steve has published articles in The Nation, The Progressive, The New York Times, and CounterPunch, to name a few. One reviewer says: “Early combines a realistic understanding of union functioning with the passionate outrage of a union reformer.” His passion will help forge the link between social justice and a healthy planet.
Alison Weir: A superb speaker and freelance journalist, Alison Weir founded the non-profit educational organization If Americans Knew. The name “If Americans Knew” expresses Weir's concern that the mainstream U.S. media fails to accurately inform the American people about the Israel-Palestine conflict. In 2001, Weir traveled independently throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, finding a situation largely the reverse of what was being reported by the American media. As executive director of “If Americans Knew” Weir has drawn praise from many sources. Former U.S. Congressman Tom Campbell said: “Ms. Weir presents a powerful, well documented view of the Middle East today. She is intelligent, careful, and critical. American policy makers would benefit greatly from hearing her first-hand observations and attempting to answer the questions she poses.”
Rand Wilson: Rand Wilson, a labor movement luminary, has organized and educated for thirty years, from the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union to Massachusetts Jobs With Justice. For much of the last two decades, Wilson has organized health care workers and worked for national health care reform. He is the president of the Center for Labor Education and Research and a Board of Directors member of the Universal Health Care Action Network, and he is currently employed 1/3 time by each of three national labor organizations, the Communication Workers of America, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the AFL-CIO.

Featured Books

CO2 Rising: Tyler Volk will conduct a book reading and signing on Thursday, Feb. 11, 7pm, at The King's English Bookshop. Understanding global warming and what to do about it demands that we not only understand climate science but also energy science. Unfortunately, most books about global warming focus obsessively on the former while giving short shrift to the latter. Thankfully, Tyler Volk's CO2 Rising does not make this mistake. In simple, layman's terms, Volk walks his readers through the basic realities of both climate and energy science, and the relationship between the latter and global economic development. What results is a clear and compelling picture of both the nature and scale of the global climate and energy challenge and what will be necessary to address it. (review by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus)
Embedded with Organized Labor: Steve Early will conduct a book reading and signing on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 7pm, at The King's English Bookshop.
Guest House: Barbara Richardson, one of the organizers of this conference, is author of the novel Guest House which features the environmental crisis. In Guest House, mid-life go-getter Melba Burns abandons her car, quits her job and stops driving, in search of peace. But a shy, ingenious 10-year-old boy enters her life, creating a more radical shift in Melba's world, without even trying. See video clip on Youtube. This book is scheduled to appear by the end of February.

A Climate of Change:

Working for Peace, Social Justice and a Healthy Planet

Friday and Saturday, Feb 12 and 13

The conference is free and open to the public. Location: Orson Spencer Hall and the adjacent University Union Building at the University of Utah Campus. For those driving to the conference, the large parking lot east of the Union Building is free on Saturday; there will be a few dollars charge for parking Friday evening.

Friday Evening Feb 12 2010

5:30 pm
OSH Audit.: Just before the beginning of this conference there will be a Press Conference about HJR 12; therefore come early and give support to the scientists speaking about the seriousness of the climate crisis.
7 pm
OSH Auditorium: Keynote speech by Tyler Volk. CO2 Rising: The World's Greatest Environmental Challenge. He will be introduced by Barbara Richardson.
9 pm
OSH Auditorium: Film Home (90 mins)
9 pm
Union Theater: Film Rethink Afghanistan (60 mins)
9 pm
OSH 202: Film One Degree Matters (57 mins)

Saturday All Day Feb. 13

10 am
Union Den: Brunch with Tyler Volk
11 am
OSH Auditorium: “Reviving the labor movement” Steve Early and Rand Wilson speaking, with Peter Philips (chair), Julie Holzer, Jim Cooksey, Warren Brodhead (discussants).
1 pm
OSH 202: The Carbon Reduction Imperative: Energy Crisis in the Climate Crisis. Ed Firmage Jr., Wim Cardoen, Brian McPherson, others.
3 pm
OSH Auditorium: Justice for the Palestinians with Alison Weir, founder of If Americans Knew, and Frances ReMillard, Utahns for a Just Peace in the Holy Land.
5 pm
OSH 202: Discussion about Health Care Reform (post mortem), the political climate today, and upcoming political mobilizations: with guest Rand Wilson about health care, Tim DeChristopher about upcoming events and how you can get involved, many others.
7 pm
OSH Auditorium: Film Garbage Dreams (79 mins) presented by SLC Film Center.

Refreshments will be available all day in the Union Den, and besides, the “OutTakes” snack bar/coffee shop in the Union Bldg. is open from 11am to 5pm.

Organizers and Sponsors:

The Healthy Planet Mobilization Committee initiated the conference in cooperation with the Campus Committee for Peace and Justice at the UofU and with the support of Utah Jobs with Justice, Utahns for a Just Peace in the Holy Land, the Wasatch Coalition for Peace and Justice, and The Mormon Worker. Campus sponsors include the UofUtah's Office of Sustainability, the Peace and Conflict Studies Program, and the Economics Department. Community sponsors include the Utah Environmental Congress, Peaceful Uprising, Everybody-In, Sustain Utah, the Environmental Ministry of the First Unitarian Church, High Road for Human Rights, the King's English Bookshop, KRCL Radio, and the SLC Film Center.

Please help publicize; download handbills , poster .

Related Events

On Monday, Feb 8, 6-7pm, Alison Weir and Francis ReMillard will be on KRCL RadioActive about Justice for Palestine
On Tuesday, Feb 9, 9:30 am, Steve Early will talk at the University's Hinckley Institute about “The Obama Administration and the Republican Senate Victory in Massachusetts: A Perspective from the Labor Movement.”
Steve Early will conduct a book reading and signing on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 7pm, at The King's English Bookshop.
On Wednsday, Feb 10, 6-7pm, Steve Early and Mike Garcia will be on KRCL RadioActive about Reviving the Labor Movement
Tyler Volk will conduct a book reading and signing on Thursday, Feb. 11, 7pm, at The King's English Bookshop.
On Friday Feb 12, 12 noon, Alison Weir will speak at the Hinckley Institute of the University of Utah about “Is U.S. media coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict ‘fair and balanced’?”
On Friday Feb 12, 12-1 pm, Tyler Volk will speak at BYU, Provo, 238 HRCB (Building 16), also about CO2 Rising: The World's Greatest Environmental Challenge.
On Friday, Feb 12, 6-7pm, Tyler Volk and David Chapman will be on KRCL RadioActive about the Climate Crisis (prerecorded)
Tyler Volk's presentation in OSH at 7pm will be transferred by videolink to auditorium NR 105 at Utah State University