BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The moment is coming. The Earth is reaching a point of danger from which it cannot be rescued.
This was the message of James E. Hansen, an expert on climate change and the Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Institute for Space Studies, at the address for Illinois Wesleyan University’s annual Founders’ Day Convocation Tuesday in Westbrook Auditorium.
“Change is essential if we are going to keep the planet that looks like the one we live on now,” said Hansen, who has been studying global warming for more than 20 years. An author of numerous articles and scientific studies on climate change, Hansen has testified his finding before Congress. His speech, titled “Climate Tipping Points: The Threat to the Planet,” called upon young people in the audience to slow the devastating damage being done to the planet through the use of fossil fuels.
“Fossil fuel interests think it is a God-given fact that we will burn all the fossil fuels in the next few decades,” said Hansen, “but we have free will. Young people can say, ‘Hey, not so fast, nice planet you are leaving us,’” said Hansen.
Hansen encouraged the audience, dominated by students, to advocate changes, such greater use of renewable fuels, the implementation of no-till agricultural practices and the building of coal-burning facilities that capture carbon. “The future is inherited by young people. They can influence elections and impact global change.”