Teach-in focuses on climate

Appalachian State University is preparing to participate in an unprecedented national event. From Jan. 28 to 31, several groups within the university will team up to host Focus the Nation, a national teach-in dedicated to raising awareness and instigating discussion about global climate change.

“This is probably the largest issue of our time,” Lee Ball Jr., an ASU instructor and energy center research analyst, said of climate change.

The events of next week will focus on that issue with input from a variety of experts, local politicians and community members. Local events make up a small portion of what will be happening across the nation as millions of individuals participate in the teach-in. The educational initiative has prompted events on more than 1,000 universities and colleges in all 50 states.

The effort’s Web site, focusthenation.org, states that “in the next few years, we as a nation will make, or fail to make, critical decisions regarding global warming pollution and clean technology investments. These decisions will have far-reaching and irreversible impacts on the lives of today’s students and the lives of their children.”

Local events include one main teach-in on Thursday, Jan. 31 at ASU’s student union.

More than 40 speakers will be presenting that day on topics, including residential energy efficiency, passive solar greenhouses, creative writing and sustainability biofuels and alternative transportation, globalization and economic “development,” community wind projects, local food and agriculture, an ASU LEED certification update, Zero Waste Watauga and art’s role in sustainability education. The presentations will last from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Other events on Thursday include a round table discussion on climate change solutions with local elected officials at 7:15 p.m. Ball said that so far, these officials include Boone Mayor Loretta Clawson and town council members Rennie Brantz, Lynne Mason and Liz Aycock. The Polar Solar Cookoff will also be held on Thursday, from 10 a.m to 1 p.m. on Sanford Mall.

Other events include a men’s basketball recycling drive at 7:30 p.m on Monday, Jan. 28 and a Kraut Creek Cleanup at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 29. Anyone interested in participating in the clean up should meet at the Yosef statue on Rivers Street. There will be a showing of the film “2% Solution” at 8 p.m. at I.G. Greer Auditorium on Wednesday, Jan. 30.

“It’s a community event, not just a campus event,” Ball said of Focus the Nation and he and the other organizers encourage all community members to participate in the week’s various events.

ASU’s Focus the Nation is sponsored by the Sustainable Development Program, the Technology Department, the student union and the ASU Energy Center.

For more information about Focus The Nation, visit focusthenation.org or contact Lee Ball Jr., at (828) 262-7289. — By ASU News Service