December 11, 2008
Hoping to put aside politics and science, policy makers and scholars are looking to come up with policy suggestions as to what role the government should play in addressing climate change at a two day conference that began Thursday at UVa's Miller Center.
"What we have in the United States is a federal government that for the most part has not been involved but a fairly large number of states that have devised a range of policies with the intent of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions," said visiting scholar Barry Rabe.
It's an issue that's been around for a while, climate change, and according to a new survey released at UVa's national conference on climate, it's an issue many Americans see as a threat.
"Americans now overwhelmingly believe that climate change is real, they are concerned about it. They believe that it poses a threat to the country," said Chris Borick of Muhlenberg College.
Just one reason scholars and policy makers are working to come up with different policies the government could implement to address climate change.
"They want to see levels of government activities to address it, not only at the national level but at state and local levels throughout the United States," said Borick.
"Obviously through a Democratic system one wants policies that are responsive to public needs and concerns," said Rabe.
Saying the public wants to see advances in renewable resources like solar and wind power.
"They want government to give a boost to the types of technologies that might address climate change," said Borick.
And panelists hope that this conference will be the first step in a long term solution.
"Hopefully a bit of an original take at an issue that's been around for a while and will likely continue to be so," said Rabe.
