Brookings fellow urges energy conservation 
November 20, 2009 by Shevelle Chambers
People may be warming up to the idea of a link between climate change and economics, but one lecturer explained how the green in wallets is connected to a greener Earth.
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A full auditorium of people gathered Tuesday night to hear Adele Morris, Brookings Institution policy director for climate and energy economics, give a lecture titled “Climate Change Economics 101.”
Morris said the United States is the largest historic emitter of greenhouse gases. When it comes down to productivity, China ranks as the number-one emitter.
“Carbon dioxide is the largest source contributing to the Greenhouse Effect,” Morris said.
She said that if levels of carbon dioxide continue to rise, we can expect global differences like the melting of polar ice caps, abnormally highs and lows in temperature and even some natural disasters like earthquakes. Damages accumulate and will occur continuously as time goes on.
It is not enough for people to just recycle, Morris told the audience, to help lower emissions. She said that people should choose different approaches toward the consumption of energy.
Limiting the use of vehicles to and from work and using public transportation is one efficient way people can contribute to the effort.
Shane Clark, a UNLV student, recycles his soda cans and water bottles in hope of helping the planet become greener. He gave his thoughts on the lecture, expressing that some of the points made are not realistic steps for him to take.
“I can’t use public transportation to get to school since I live at the end of the [Interstate]-515 freeway,” Clark said. “It would just take me too long to get to school.”
Another option to help lower emissions is to form the perfect policy. Morris said her ideal policy would contain three main points: maximizing the cost for lowering emissions, finding who will benefit socially and how the cost and benefits will work together.
Though the world may be facing a harsh battle to ensure that the climate remains stable, Morris believes it is not too late to turn around the impact she believes humans have had on the environment.
Morris said, “We just need to change the way we use our energy.”
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