To the editor:

The Nobel Conference on Climate Changed, Facing Our Future held at Gustavus Adolphus College Sept 24 and 25, 2019 had numerous speakers who were extremely knowledgeable and informative. Amitav Ghosh, PhD. spoke about his latest book of nonfiction, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable. He explained that 25% of all the U.S. CO2 emissions are coming from the Defense Department which raises two questions: Should the U.S. maintain a global empire based on a military highly dependent on fossil fuels and how do we as a nation reduce our emissions of CO2 over the next 30 years to help the world avoid exceeding 2 degrees C rise in global temperature?

Elizabeth Kolbert in the New Yorker, Sept 30, 2019 wrote that a recent Washington Post poll found that more than 3/4s of Americans now consider climate change a “crisis” or a “major problem.” Unfortunately that same poll showed that less than 1/2 would pay more to address it. Until we as a society become serious about changing the way we obtain energy and work together to achieve a carbon free economy the young people of the world will face a bleak future.

The videos of the Nobel Conference can be found online at gustavus.edu/nobelconference

John and Mary Kluge

New Ulm

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