URI Sept. 25 event is part of fall honors colloquium
KINGSTON, R.I. — Sept. 14, 2001 — Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Climate Change, will speak on “Climate Change: A Strategy for the Future” as part of the University of Rhode Island’s fall honors colloquium series, “A Just and Sustainable Future: Overcoming Barriers to Action.”
Claussen will speak in Room 271 of URI’s Chafee Social Science Center on Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. Her talk will focus on how to reduce greenhouse gases while treating both rich and poor nations fairly.
The Pew Center is a non-profit, non-partisan and independent organization dedicated to providing credible information, straight answers and innovative solutions to address global climate change. Thirty-two major companies, most included in the Fortune 500, are working together through the center to educate the public on the risks, challenges and solutions to climate change.
Claussen formerly served as assistant secretary of state for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs during the Clinton Administration. In this role, she was responsible for developing and implementing policy on behalf of the United States on major international issues including climate change, ozone depletion, chemicals, natural resource issues, and the sustainable development efforts of the multilateral development banks and the United Nations.
Before working for the Department of State, Claussen served for three years as a special assistant to the president and senior director for Global Environmental Affairs at the National Security Council, where she was responsible for policy development on a wide range of global environmental and population issues.
She was also director of atmospheric programs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where she supervised international and domestic activities related to the depletion of the ozone layer, developed the acid rain program under the Clean Air Act, negotiated the Clean Air Accord with Canada, and directed the development of EPA’s energy efficiency programs. She served from 1990 to 1991 as the deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation.
She earned a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University and a master’s degree from the University of Virginia.
For more information about the many other events of the URI Honors Colloquium, visit www.uri.edu/sustainability, or call the Honors Program at 874-2303. The major sponsors of the colloquium are The Providence Journal and the Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities.
For Information: Todd McLeish, 401-874-2116, Jennifer Smith, 401-874-2116