Climate Change and the Crisis of American Democracy

In the wake of the Trump administration removing climate change webpages from the White House website and forcing a media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency, Scholars’ Convocation will welcome climate-change expert David Orr.  

Orr, Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College, will discuss “Climate Change and the Crisis of American Democracy” at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 9.

The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will take place in Joe Rosenfield ‘25 Center, room 101, 1115 Eighth Ave., Grinnell. Immediately following Orr’s talk, there will be a book sale outside Room 101, where he will sign his books from noon to 12:30 p.m.

Orr, who also serves as special assistant to the Oberlin College president on sustainability and the environment, is the author of eight books and co-editor of three others. His latest book, Dangerous Years: Climate Change and the Long Emergency, was published last fall by Yale University Press. In addition, Orr has written more than 220 articles, reviews, book chapters, and professional publications.

Timothy E. Wirth, former U.S. senator of Colorado and president emeritus of the United Nations Foundation, wrote about the book, “In the absence of a wizard to right the situation magically, Orr calls for human intervention before it is too late — not just in our power plants and motor vehicles, but in the way we live our lives and organize society. To do so, he once wrote, ‘hope is an imperative.’”

In the past 25 years, Orr has served as board member or adviser to 10 independent foundations and organizations including the Rocky Mountain Institute, Bioneers, and the Aldo Leopold Foundation. He is a trustee of the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado and the WorldWatch Institute. He has been awarded eight honorary degrees and more than a dozen other awards.

Grinnell College welcomes the participation of people with disabilities. Room 101 in the Rosenfield Center is equipped with an induction hearing loop system, which enables individuals with hearing aids set to T-Coil to hear the program. Accommodation requests may be made to Conference Operations.

The College also welcomes the presence of minors at all age-appropriate public events and for informal visits, with the understanding that a parent, legal guardian, or other responsible adult assumes full responsibility for their child’s safety and behavior during such visits or events. In these cases the College expects that an adult responsible for the visiting child takes measures to ensure the child’s safety and sees that the child complies with directions of college personnel. Grinnell College is not responsible for supervision of minors on campus.