As part of the EverPower Earth Day Festival today in Market Square, Robert Swan is appearing in Pittsburgh. Swan is the first man ever to walk to both the North and South poles. He is currently an advocate for the protection of Antarctica and renewable energy.
Swan explains how traveling through wilderness changes a person's perception of the world:
"You realize that actually we, the human race, tend to feel that we can dominate the wilderness...dominate our planet. When you have walked the South pole or the North pole you know how small we really are, how insignificant we really are and how our world is a hell of a lot more powerful and if we carry on as we are it'll just spit us out."
Also in the program, Chatham is in the process of building the first campus in the world to be built solely for the study of sustainability, and JoylettePortlock of Communitopia helps us to see the positive side of a historically negative topic: climate change and our evolving environment.
Chatham University's Eden Hall (starts at 25:00)
Chatham University is once again one of two schools in PA to make The Princeton Review's "Top 50 Green Colleges." Plans for a new one-of-a-kind green campus called Eden Hall will include facilities designed for a designated number of students, natural classrooms, a Bachelor and Master of Sustainability program, and the ability to produce more energy than it consumes. Assistant Professor of Sustainability and Business at Chatham's Falk School of Sustainability Dr. Tom Macagno tells us the careers and outcomes of the school's program offerings as well as the specific benefits of the Eden Hall Campus.
Taking the Disaster Out of Climate Change (starts at 37:37)
Climate change, melting ice caps and an expanding hole in the ozone – does all the news regarding the climate have to be bad? Is there a way to encourage people to do something about the environment without painting a picture of doom and gloom? We’ll pose those questions to Joylette Portlock, president of Communitopia, which is dedicated to positive environmental engagement. Portlock will also provide us with a preview of this weekend’s FutureFest taking place at the Phipps Conservatory.
More Essential Pittsburgh segments can be found here.
