Noted Scientist David Suzuki at Forbes College
Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki, host of The Nature of Things and founder of The David Suzuki Foundation sat for an extended question and answer session on February 12, 2008 in the Forbes College Multipurpose Room. The event preceded Suzuki’s lecture in McCosh 50 that evening. In addition to faculty and students, many representatives from the Princeton Facilities organization were in attendance. The event was co-sponsored by the Office of Sustainability, a campus-wide program within the Princeton Facilities organization.
Suzuki fielded questions on a range of sustainability topics including economics, politics, mass media and the climate crisis, population control, and technology.
Director of Grounds and Building Maintenance Bill Traubel was pleased that Suzuki was able to do an event on campus during business hours. Traubel recently arranged showings of An Inconvenient Truth for the Facilities organization. “Having heard David recommend the film in October at a professional conference, I took his advice and saw it on returning home. I have now seen it four times and recommend it regularly to others. I offered a viewing of it to my shop staff during break week and more than half of the grounds and trades staff attended. That’s important because I feel these are the issues that will continue to impact their careers for the foreseeable future.”
Shana Weber, Director of the Office of Sustainability said: "In the afternoon session, Suzuki responded to audience members asking what they can do to help solve the climate crisis. He emphasized that excessive consumption drives the problem, so consuming less as individuals is part of the solution. He also suggested that our current national economic model encourages over-consumption because it is based on the unrealistic concept of perpetual growth. Since unlimited growth is not possible on a planet with limited resources, a different way of measuring economic vitality is necessary."