On March 11, the Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies hosted the first of two events for the Spring 2010 Science and the Public series "The Future of Energy."
More than 140 students, faculty and community members crammed in to the Pyle Center's VandeBerg Auditorium to hear wind-energy entrepreneur and award-winning inventor Saul Griffith give a talk, "Power to Choose: How the Energy Choices People Make Will Change Their Lives."
Griffith argued that technological innovation will not be enough to deal with global climate change, calling for equally dynamic innovation in conservation and reduced energy consumption.
The talk was well received and spawned a lively question-and-answer session that carried on well past the scheduled ending time.
The following week, the Holtz Center screened the documentary Who Killed The Electric Car?
Again, the auditorium was filled, and after the movie, the audience engaged in a lively discussion with a panel of environment, energy and engineering experts including: Bill Brown, a documentarian, UW Professor Gregg Mitman, an environmental historian, documentary filmmaker, and interim director of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, John S. Nelson, professional engineer and Adjunct Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering; and History of Science Professor Eric Schatzberg.
The Holtz Center would like to thank all of our panelists and the Alliant Energy Foundation and Brittingham Trust for their support. They look forward to next year’s round of Science and the Public.