alternative energy

What will these solutions look like? A distinguished panel will explore this issue on Thursday,  March 12th, at 5:30 in the Museum's first-floor Kaufman Theater.

Panelists include Joseph Romm, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress, and executive director and founder of the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions; Ashok Gupta, Air and Energy Program Director, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); and Ariella Maron, Deputy Director, New York City Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, discuss efficiency goals, sustainable alternative energy options, and our outdated distribution infrastructure. The discussion is moderated by Michael Oppenheimer, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School and the Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, and co-curator of the AMNH exhibition Climate Change: The Threat to Life and A New Energy Future.

To buy tickets, visit the AMNH public programs calendar.

Even as we carpool and cut back, tackling climate change can feel pretty overwhelming. Factor in the global economic meltdown, and it can be hard to fend off that deer-in-the headlights feeling. Al Gore was worried about the same thing (on a slightly higher level, granted) when he kicked off the We Campaign in a speech last July.

The objective is to build a movement called Repower America. It’s already over 2 million strong, and counting: people acting individually and collectively to “ create the political will to solve the climate crisis.” The goal is concrete: to produce 100% of the country’s electricity from clean, carbon-free sources within 10 years.

In that speech, Gore pointed out that President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 challenge to land a man safely on the moon within the decade met with many doubters. Eight years and two months later, Neil Armstrong stepped off the ladder of the Apollo 11 lunar module.