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To Tend the Earth: Responding to the Global Climate Change Crisis

Loyola University Chicago’s second annual Climate Change Conference moves beyond the sterile debate of whether global climate change exists to the theme of tending the earth. “To tend” means to pay attention to; to act as the caretaker of; to serve. This conference will unfold the implications of “To Tend the Earth” through reflection upon those ethical principles, policies, and actions needed to combat the crisis of global climate change. Such reflection by necessity will be interdisciplinary. Three areas will receive special attention: justice–what normative framework should guide our debates on policymaking; motivation–what influences human motivation to act with regards to climate change; policy–what actions could result in significant policy and economic change.

Thursday, March 19

7:00 p.m.   Keynote Address
"Addressing Climate Change with Next Generation Energy Storage Technology"
George Crabtree, Senior Scientist, Argonne Distinguished Fellow, Argonne National Laboratory
Mundelein Center Auditorium

                
Friday, March 20

9:30 a.m. Action Workshop I 
The Risks, Nuts, and Bolts of Divestment.
A workshop describing the motivation for divestment from fossil fuel companies, the financial risks, investment portfolio complexities, and success stories of universities who have divested from fossil fuels.
Mundelein Center Auditorium

11:30 a.m. Lunch
 Institute of Environmental Sustainability/Campus Sustainability tours
 Institute of Environmental Sustainability (IES) Rooms 123/124

1:00 p.m. Panel Sessions
Galvin Auditorium, Sullivan Center

1:00 – 2:15 p.m. - Climate Justice
Lisa Sideris, Associate Professor, Indiana University
Mary Evelyn Tucker, Senior Lecturer and Research Scholar, Yale University
William French, Associate Professor, Loyola University Chicago
Moderator - Jame Schaefer, Associate Professor, Marquette University

2:30 – 3:45 p.m. - Climate Action and Policy
Rep. Robyn Gabel, 18th District, Illinois House of Representatives
Kathleen Smythe, Professor, Xavier University
Daniel R. DiLeo, Project Manager of Catholic Climate Covenant
Moderator - Michael Schuck, Associate Professor, Loyola University Chicago

4:00 – 5:15 p.m. - Human Motivations for and against Climate Action
Susan Clayton, Professor, College of Wooster
Elke U. Weber, Jerome A. Chazen Professor of International Business and Professor of Management and Psychology at Columbia University
Moderator: Associate Professor Robyn Mallett, Loyola University Chicago

5:30 p.m. Afternoon Poster Session - Sustainability in Research, Teaching, and Advocacy
Faculty and graduate students from different disciplines and universities present posters of their research and teaching projects on environmental issues and/or solutions.
Light appetizers and cocktails served  
IES Atrium 

To register for the conference