Clarion University to Host Environmental Congress

CLARION – Clarion University will host the Third International Congress on Critical Perspectives on Energy, Environment, Technology and Water Development, and Protection Worldwide on March 31-April 1.
   
Headlining the speakers are a keynote address by Dr. Robert McAfee on Tuesday, March 31, at 9 a.m.; and a presentation by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Acting Secretary, John Hanger, Wednesday, April 1, at 9 a.m. Both presentations will be in the Gemmell Student Complex Multi-Purpose Room.
   
McAfee’s keynote address, Hangar’s presentation, and all of the other presentations of the Congress are free and open to the public. Clarion University President Joseph Grunenwald will make opening remarks prior to McAfee’s presentation. Breakout sessions, at 10:45 a.m., 1:45 p.m., and 3:30 p.m., featuring a variety of topics, will follow the opening speaker both days.
   
Dr. Valentine James, Clarion University Provost and Academic Vice President, brought the Congress with him when he joined Clarion University in 2008. He originated the conference during his previous tenure as dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, N.C.
   
“The Congress hopes to galvanize concern for the environment in people in Clarion and beyond,” said James. “The department of anthropology, geography, and earth science will be organizing a panel and many faculty members are planning on bringing their students. The long-term plan for the Congress at Clarion University is to have it become an integral part of the education plan. The goal is to build something that connects not just with the region, but nationally and internationally.”
   
The Congress was instituted to provide leadership and encourage partnership, a multi-disciplinary approach to addressing environmental problems, and a forum for discussion on innovative technologies concerned with the conservation policies and legalization, ecology, emerging technologies, alternative energy and total expenditure for the utilization of regenerative energies worldwide, impact of molecular nanotechnology on energy and environment, industry, development strategies and the built environmental, protection, urbanization, waste water treatment, and technology-society interface, focusing on the technological gap between the developed and developing countries. It places emphasis on the educational values in the pursuit of sustainable development and environmental management that nurture the environment and improve the quality of life without compromising that of future generations, and looks for providing foundations for future endeavors through the identification of new and innovative areas of environmental research, development and professional practices. 
   
McAfee, climatologist to the Arkansas Governor’s Commission on Global Warming has been engaged in environmental education with emphasis on climate change and variability studies his entire adult life. He received his bachelor of arts in history and political science from Arkansas Tech University in history, political science and geography in 1971; master’s of science in geographic studies from the University of Wisconsin in 1976; and Ph.D. in climatology from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, in 1982. He has served with the Peace Corps in Africa, taught at Macquarie University and University of East Anglia, United Kingdom.
   
He was among approximately 100 scientists from around the world invited to attend the first International Conference on Climate & History at the University of East Anglia. He returned to Arkansas in 1991 and co-founded the Peaceable Kingdom, Inc. (PKI), a nonprofit education and environmental service agency. He founded the Arkansas Environmental Education Association (AEEA) in 1995. In 2006, he left AEEA and became executive director of the PKI’s Thinking Like A Mountain Institute of the Peaceable Kingdom, Inc. He also served as chair of the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology’s (Fayetteville) Carbon Caps Task Force.
   
McAfee now focuses entirely on global warming and climate change. He was selected and trained by former Vice President Al Gore’s The Climate Project, to be one of 1,000 climate change messengers to carry Gore’s warning about global warming and climatic variation. In April 2007 he was invited back to serve as a mentor and trainer for the last group of Gore’s 1,000 Climate Change Messengers to be trained.
    
In September of 2007, McAfee was appointed by Gov. Mike Beebe as climatologist to the Arkansas Governor’s Commission on Global Warming. After the Commission presented it’s final report to the governor, he organized a multi-organization coalition, the Repower Arkansas campaign, to promote the policy recommendations of the commission. 
   
Hanger is a 1979 graduate of Duke University and a 1984 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. As acting secretary of the Pennsylvania DEP manages an agency of more than 3,000 employees with a mission to protect Pennsylvania’s air, land and water from pollution and provide for the health and safety of its citizens through a cleaner environment, working as partners with individuals, organizations, governments and business to prevent pollution and restore natural resources.
   
He is responsible for overseeing the development of a balanced ecological system through the protection of Pennsylvania’s environmental resources and assisting the regulated community and public in complying with environmental laws and regulations through a variety of technical assistance and outreach programs. He is also responsible for making all policy and resource allocation decisions, as well as representing the department before the legislature, the general public and those affected by any departmental actions.
    
From June 1998-August 2008, Hanger was president and CEO of Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture), working to improve Pennsylvania’s environment and economy. He played a major role in drafting and enacting in November 2004 Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act.
    
From April 1993-June 1998, Hanger was a commissioner with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), where he served on the Electricity Committee, the Consumer Affairs Committee, and the Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).
   
As an expert on energy and environmental issues, public utility regulation, and competition in the electricity, gas and telephone industries, Hanger has testified before the U. S. Congress and many state legislatures. He has authored numerous articles, written leading regulatory decisions and lectured widely to diverse audiences.
    
Prior to becoming PUC commissioner, Hanger served as legal counsel to Commissioner Joseph Rhodes from 1988-93. From 1984-88 he worked at Community Legal Services, Inc. of Philadelphia, serving as public advocate representing 500,000 municipal customers of the City of Philadelphia’s municipal gas, water, and sewer utilities.
   
For additional information visit http://www.clarion.edu/3rdCongress.