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Release Date: 
Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Climate Forum with films, discussion, tree planting, more

Event Date: 
Fri, 09/20/2019 - 10:00am to 3:00pm
Location: 
Andrew A. Mazzara Administrative Services & Conference Center (ASCC) (Building L) Forfa Auditorium
Greta Thunberg
16-year-old Greta Thunberg's TED talk, which has been viewed more than 3 million times, will be shown at the Forum's morning session.

The HFC Climate Forum will be held Friday, Sept. 20, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Forfa Auditorium on the first floor of the ASCC (Bldg. L).

Download a flyer and schedule for the forum

“On the day of the HFC Climate Forum, people around the world will be protesting, striking, marching, and walking out of schools to demand that we end our reliance on fossil fuels and to encourage the adoption of green energy alternatives. They see no time for delay. The initial, devastating effects of climate change are already upon us, and unless we act now, it will be too late for future generations to escape the brutal and destabilizing conditions that will upend civil society,” said HFC English professor Gary McIlroy, one of the forum's organizers.

Believing that those armed with facts and information will be better proponents of change, a concerned group of faculty and staff have decided to host this forum. Although the scientific consensus on climate change has become interwoven with political strife, this group reminds us that there is nothing inherently political about chemistry, biology, and physics.

“We once acted to curtail acid rain. We also moved to reverse the damage to the ozone layer,” said McIlroy. “We can be no less decisive today.”

The Day's Schedule

10:00 to 10:40 a.m.:

• Welcome/introduction (Gary McIlroy)
• Film: Save the World by Changing the Rules
• TED Talk with Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish student credited with raising global awareness about the risks posed by climate change and who appeared on the cover of Time magazine in May

10:40 to 11:45 a.m.:

• Lecture: “The Science of Climate Change” by HFC biology instructor Linda Brandt and Dr. Craig Donahue, associate professor of chemistry at the University of Michigan-Dearborn
• Lecture: “Climate Warming’s Effect on the Oceans” by HFC biology instructor Maris Polanco
• Taking political action by Dr. Emily Luxon, asst. professor of political science at UM-Dearborn
• Film: Inside the Sunrise Movement: How Climate Activists Put “The Green New Deal” on the Map

11:45 a.m. to noon:

• Audience Q&A

Noon to 12:30 p.m.:

• Breakout sessions in the Rosenau Rooms

12:30 to 1:00 p.m.:

• Report back on breakout sessions in the Forfa Auditorium

1:00 to 1:30 p.m.:

• Ceremonial tree planting (proceed from Forfa to planting site between the Facilities Building and College Store in the center of campus)

1:40 to 3:00 p.m.:

• Film: The Human Element in Rm. K-14 in the Reuther Liberal Arts Building (Bldg. K)

The event is free and open to the public. For questions and/or more information, download the flyer or contact McIlroy at 313-845-6462 or gmcilroy@hfcc.edu.