Oberlin to Present Landmark Conference on Climate Change

Oberlin, Ohio – Oberlin College and The Oberlin Project announce After Fossil Fuels: The Next Economy, a landmark conference to be held October 6 -8, 2016 in Oberlin, Ohio. Bringing together some of the most innovative and influential thinkers in the world with key elected officials who have a solid and active track record on climate change issues, After Fossil Fuels: The Next Economy will focus on the economic and political realities in the era of climate change -- just one month before the most contentious presidential election in memory.

“The most critical issue we face is climate change,” says David W. Orr, the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College and the Founder and Visionary behind The Oberlin Project. “Climate and energy issues are flip sides of the same coin. We are now in the transition to a very different economy and we don’t have a lot of time to get this right.”

Speakers will include former governors Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Bill Ritter of Colorado and Jennifer Granholm of Michigan. Bestselling author and environmental activist Bill McKibben is also among the 40 plus participants, who include Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio; Michael Brune, President of the Sierra Club; Tom Styer, founder of NexGen Climate; Mark Campanale, founder and director of the Carbon Tracker Initiative; Hunter Lovins, founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions; and Gus Speth, co-chair of the Next System Project. A full list of speakers can be found here.

“The governors are important speakers because most of the action on climate change has been at state levels and it is the states who have been the real drivers in climate policy,” says Orr. “October is just one month before a critical presidential election and we need to be heard in that cacophony.”

After Fossil Fuels: The Next Economy will be the first major event to be held in the new Peter B. Lewis Gateway Center. This state of the art conference center, located within The Hotel at Oberlin, is ground-breaking in itself for its smart energy engineering. It is on target to become one of the rare LEED Platinum hotels and conference centers in the U.S. and is the cornerstone of Oberlin's Green Arts District. The Conference is presented by Oberlin College and the Oberlin Project with the following partners:

• The American Renewable Energy Institute
• The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies
• The Capital Institute,
• The Democracy Collaborative
• The Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
• The Next System Project
• PostCarbon Institute
• The Schwarzenegger Institute
• 350.org
• V. Kann Rasmuseen Foundation (VKRF)

Financial support for the Conference is provided by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the George Gund Foundation, the Cleveland Foundation and a dozen anonymous donors. For more information, including a full list of participants, speaker schedule and ticket information visit the website, After Fossil Fuels: The Next Economy [website no longer available].

The Oberlin Project

A joint effort of the City of Oberlin, Oberlin College, and private and institutional partners to improve the resilience, prosperity, and sustainability of our community. The Oberlin Project's aim is to revitalize the local economy, eliminate carbon emissions, restore local agriculture, food supply and forestry, and create a new, sustainable base for economic and community development. The City and College have signed on to become one of 18 Clinton Foundation Climate Positive Development Program cities (one of only three in the United States), thereby committing to reducing Oberlin’s greenhouse gas emissions below zero.

Oberlin College

Ranked consistently among the nation’s top liberal arts schools, Oberlin College is committed to rigorous academics, artistic and musical excellence, and social justice. Founded in 1833, Oberlin was the first institution of higher education in America to adopt a policy to admit students of color (1835) and the first college to award bachelor’s degrees to women (1841) in a coeducational program. Oberlin’s distinct history of challenging intellectual and social conventions shapes the student experience today, which fosters strong bonds among a diverse community of bright and talented students from around the world.

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