Panel Talks Climate Policy

Despite increased awareness of environmental issues generated by “green” campaigns, policy on environmental change is moving slowly, according to three environmental experts who spoke at a panel hosted by International Relations on Campus in coordination with the Environmental Action Committee last night in Sever 113.

The three experts tended to agree that the sluggishness on environmental policy derives from both discord among international powers and differing perspectives on how to handle the body of current environmental knowledge.

Regardless of the fact that activists have been “yelling” about environmental issues for a number of years, “the yelling doesn’t get us anywhere,” said panel participant Timothy C. Weiskel, co-director of the Climate Talks Project and instructor in Harvard’s division of continuing education.

Panelist William R. Moomaw, director of the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy at Tufts’ Fletcher School, said he attributes the slow speed of environmental policymaking to differing expectations from international actors.

While China continues to make monumental strides towards a greener society, its neighbor, India, has not made significant improvements, he said.

The panelists all praised China for its efforts in “greening” the country.

According to Moomaw, China currently keeps track of a “Green GDP” and will have the highest production of solar panels by next year.

“The global South expects more of the global North than they are willing to give,” added fellow panelist David Blackbourn, director of the Minda de Gunzberg Center for European Studies at Harvard.

In addition, Moomaw stated that one hurdle to significant environmental progress comes from “scientific doubters” who believe that taking immediate steps to address climate change is unnecessary and potentially counterproductive without further knowledge.

“But what they don’t understand,” Moomaw said, “is that learning and instituting regulation can go together.”

Similarly, he claimed that the slow implementation of environmental policy stems from the influence of institutions such as the Heartland and Cato Institutes, which provide more conservative views on environmentalism.

Moomaw said that although the negativity can be overwhelming, it increases environmental consciousness, which promotes knowledge and eventually, action.

IRoC Co-Director Courtney L. Blair ’10 said she was happy to have been able to work with the EAC and thought the panel was successful.