Nobelist says global warming solution will cost Americans

Nobel Laureate Thomas Schelling called global warming a "major energy preoccupation" and said it will probably take the government two decades to understand it enough to fix the problem, in his lecture Monday. Thomas Schelling kicked off the 2008 Burkett Miller Distinguished Lecture Series with a lecture on "Managing the World's Greenhouse Problem."

The lecture was sponsored by the UTC department of biological and environmental sciences and the Scott L. Probasco, Jr. Chair of Free Enterprise, an organization "to help citizens understand the principles that form the foundation of the American economic system."

This partnership stemmed from Schelling's work as an economist as well as his eco-conscious attitude.

Henry Spratt, a UTC professor of Biological and Environmental Sciences offered a response after Schelling's speech in which Spratt called for a return to re-establishing natural ecosystem living. In the proposed lifestyle, plants and animals reach safe, maintained population levels, everything is recycled and solar energy is put to use, Spratt said.

"Most scientists think we're at the point of no return. If we go much more past this threshold there could be catastrophic changes," Spratt said.

Spratt said he supports the Native American Iroquois' way of decision making, which took into account the impact of ecological decision impact on the seventh generation.

Spratt said the gist of Schelling's thinking is that it is a bad idea economically to only treat the symptoms of global warming. Schelling also says that in fixing global warming problems, industrialized nations like the United States would bear the burden of the cost while the third world countries would reap the benefits.

Schelling has proposed such geo-engineering options as orbiting satellites to capture more solar energy, fertilizing oceans to promote carbon particle growth in the oceans and releasing more sulfur into the air to deflect solar rays.

"If things keep growing, and we keep letting people in the border, the demand for energy is exhausted," Spratt said.

Schelling said if global warming continues, eventually Washington D.C., central Fla., and N.Y. will be 25 feet underwater when a glacier melts.

Will Yebuah, a Nashville senior said, "If [global warming is] big for us, it's going to be big for our children. Go green every chance you get."

Schelling said he does not think there will be an enforceable set of quotas for protecting the environment in the near or foreseeable future.

"Be patient," Schelling said. "Everyone is still new at this game. I just hope the new president will take the issue seriously. They also need to come clean that fixing the problem will cost citizens. This is not a pollution problem but rather an energy problem."

Spratt said he encourages students to look at their transportation and vehicle's fuel efficiency as well as thinking about joining an environmental group like UTC's Ecological Decisions for a Global Environment (EDGE).

"Talk to your parents and friends who are not behaving according to standards," Spratt said. "Everyone needs to recycle. There is energy in a plastic bottle that can be recreated. Be conscious of how you live and tell others about it."

Beata Krizat, a senior from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada attended Schelling's lecture because she wanted to learn about Global warming.

"It's an issue. [Students should] keep in mind little things like stop running so much water, recycling and all that good stuff," Krizat said. "Try to get educated about it."

Spratt said: "Reforming the environment issues shouldn't be so newsworthy. It should just be a daily occurrence.