Greener Pastures?
By: Nathan Vis
Meeting for the last time this semester, and perhaps for the final time in its tenure at the University, the Conversations Project addressed the future of American environmental policy, in an event entitled “Greener Pastures: A New Era of Environmental Policy?”
The three panel members brought a wide variety of views and backgrounds to inform the audience. Dana Dobosz, a current Valparaiso Law School second year student, started the conversation by discussing her view of environmental policy through her experience as a park ranger in the Indiana Dunes. “I came into the service with high hopes of utilizing the national park as an educational tool for its visitors,” said Dobosz, “but instead I found it to be more concerned about financing state-of-the-art bathrooms and the newest vehicles we could buy. Environmental policy shifts only work if people are educated at a local level, if changes are made at a local level – we need to move beyond dropping Twinkie wrappers wherever we please.”
Kim Ferraro, the Executive Director of the Legal Environmental Aid Foundation, agreed with Dobosz that education and action at the local level was key, and added that strong federal measures were needed. “I believe that a strong federal comprehensive agenda needs to be set, to ensure decisive action.”
Mary Irwin, the appointed Director for Indiana’s Center for Coal Technologies, cautioned a hastened approach to more stringent federal regulation. “We have come a long way in cleaning up the air in America – anyone that has lived in a major city for a period of time can attest to that.”
When asked about their approaches to cleaning and greening the environment – each of the three had a different idea. For Dobosz, “It’s not enough to say we are going green. For too many folks it becomes hip to do, we feel good about going green in a certain area of our life, and we feel out duty is done.” Irwin asked back, “What more can we do to turn coal, a dirty black rock, clean? We need it and its energy to fuel steel mills and other industries to create photo-voltaic cells for solar power and to create and transport wind turbines– is the expenditure of more energy to create these sources of energy really enhancing air quality?” Ferraro replied that they did indeed enhance the environment, “for these are sources of renewable energy which over time do not contribute to carbon pollution of the environment.”
The Conversation Project, a collaborative effort between the Valparaiso University and the Law School, designed to address issues of our time and foster civil discourse, has been in existence for over five years. Professor of Law Jeremy Telman has led the group’s successful efforts over the past five years, and recently announced that he was stepping down from chairing the group, leaving open the leadership position to someone new to carry on the tradition of intelligent discourse and simple conversation.
Nathan is a 2L and can be reached at Nathan.Vis@valpo.edu.
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