Dr. Harold Glasser - Campus Sustainability

Dr. Harold Glasser, Executive Director for Campus Sustainability here at Western Michigan University came to give an in-class presentation on December 2nd. His articulate explanations and unparalleled ability to put perplexing information in perspective was incredibly inspirational. He began by explaining the importance of sustainability. As far as we know, Earth is the only habitable planet available, so living sustainably should be of the utmost importance. The world has never before seen a time like this. Never before, in human's approximate 200,000 years of existence, has our climate shifted so rapidly, as it has since the time of industrialization. It has become apparent that our actions are to blame. Mitigating these problems is imperative, or we are going to have to learn to adapt to a very new, very formidable environment. Unfortunately, it is now a race against the clock, and most experts will agree, the clock has already won. This leaves us scrambling to prevent even more climate disruption, meaning the real bulk of this problem will fall into the hands of our generation. Dr. Glasser continued by showing a very memorable chart, quite similar to the one pictured below:

This chart displays the ecological footprint of seven related regions of the world by population size. It is clear where much of the responsibility for global climate change falls. Dr. Glasser then elicits the question "Is our quality of life really 8 times better?" How do we justify such an enormous footprint for such a relatively small population?

Dr. Glasser then brings up a very interesting argument. He begins by explaining how people have sued cigarette companies for causing health detriment without first giving a suitable warning. He then goes on to wonder if universities and other higher education institutions will be sued in the future over claims that they did not adequately prepare our generation for the uncertain and ominous future, as it relates to impending climate change.

The presentation is ended with a quote by Albert Einstein. "The world we have made, as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far, creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of thinking at which we created them." I found this quote to be incredibly fascinating and quite accurate regarding the logical progression of human achievement. We must learn from our mistakes and adapt to the unpredictable problems unintentionally created by solving other problems.