Bren School OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT University of California, Santa Barbara

Presents

Christopher Flavin

President, Worldwatch Institute

DISCUSSION FOLLOWS WITH

WALTER KOHN, Nobel Laureate, 1998

ERNST VON Weizsäcker, Dean, Bren School

Monday, January 30, 2006

Bren Hall 1414

5:30-6:30 p.m.

“Energy at the Tipping Point”

The world energy economy faces a perfect storm.  The fossil fuels that created our industrial civilization in the 20th century are destabilizing the world in the 21st.   Rapid climate change, the depletion of energy resources, soaring fuel prices, and growing dependence on energy from some of the world's most unstable countries are undermining security in the United States and around the globe. The threats and opportunities of this new energy era will be a defining feature of the world economy and politics in the years ahead.  The challenge is to turn the current crisis into a "tipping point," launching a post-petroleum era based on high levels of energy efficiency, accelerated development of new energy resources, and a new generation of decentralized, community-based energy systems.  Already, there are indications that a wave of technology and policy innovation is beginning to transform energy markets around the globe.  The question is whether the world can move fast enough to avoid an economic or ecological catastrophe.

Co-sponsored by the Bren School, Environmental Studies Program, Critical Issues in America

Hosted by Bob Wilkinson