From Copenhagen to Ann Arbor

On Saturday, Jan. 23, over 60 students and nearly a dozen experts on environmental issues and citizen activism gathered in the Samuel T. Dana Building on campus for a conference on climate change titled, “From Copenhagen to Ann Arbor: Charting Michigan’s Green Future.”  The event was organized by the Environmental Issues Committee of College Democrats at the University of Michigan and sought to bring discussion and conversation about environmental issues to campus, such as the impact of the COP 15 Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, on climate change policy.

The conference began with opening remarks by Debbie Dingell, wife of Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI-15).  She set the tone for the conference by highlighting the political challenges of implementing climate change policy. She also noted the lack of worldwide action on the issue. "The world's three largest greenhouse gas emitters do not have binding policies for the environment," she said.

Dingell’s speech was followed by a presentation by a panel of three members of the youth delegation to Copenhagen. These students and recent college graduates, Chris Detjen, Sarah Mullkoff, and Dele Akinpelu shared their experiences and offered some analysis.

The presentation on Copenhagen was followed by a panel discussion by local politicians and community leaders with environmental expertise, including University of Michigan graduates Chris Detjen and Leslie Garrison, State Representative Rebekah Warren, Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje, and Washtenaw County Commissioner Conan Smith.
Hieftje made a point of emphasizing Ann Arbor’s progress on environmental protection. “Ann Arbor is one of the leading cities in the nation on energy conservation,” he said. “We were named Solar City, USA.”

The conference also featured a presentation by Peter Sinclair, a Midland resident who was trained by Al Gore’s “The Climate Project,” to educate people about the issues raised in An Inconvenient Truth.  He focused his lecture on examining the stolen “climate-gate” emails and explaining how the alleged scandal is the result of poor journalism, rather than dishonest science.  He also presented data on short-term climate patterns to show that despite year-to-year fluctuations, there is still an overall warming trend in global temperatures.

At one point, Sinclair provided an answer to climate change deniers who point to cold Michigan winters as evidence that climate change is not occurring. “There's a difference between climate and weather,” he said.  
In the afternoon, conference participants attended breakout sessions led by different environmental organizations. 1Sky facilitated a discussion about environmental justice activism, Transit Riders United gave a presentation on transportation issues in Michigan, Cultivating Community and BLUElab explained the urban garden movement, and RePower offered ways to become involved as a climate activist.

The conference concluded with a panel discussion by University of Michigan professors.  The panel featured geology professors Ben Van Der Plujm and Nathan Sheldon, climate scientist Natalia Andronova, and history professor Matt Lassiter.  The panel discussed current environmental problems and proposed solutions to them.