Focus the Nation

by Becca Jones, on behalf of the Environmental Sustainability Committee

On January 31, 2008, UC Berkeley joined the other UC campuses and over 1900 other institutions to take part in Focus the Nation (http://www.focusthenation.org/index.php), a national teach-in on solutions to climate change.

At UC Berkeley, the International House hosted hundreds of faculty, staff and students for a series of panel discussions and keynote lectures, as well as interactive breakout sessions. Graduate students took part in the day's activities, and the graduate student group Students for a Greener Berkeley organized the breakout sessions. The five breakout sessions were held in the early afternoon in two tracks, Policy Debates and Local Action. The Policy Debates track had a session on sustainable transportation, and a mock Presidential debate, where the audience was divided into groups with each representing one of the remaining Democratic or Republican candidates. The Local Action track had sessions on Cal's climate impact, reducing our individual carbon footprint, and a speed dating session for The Green Initiative Fund.

While Focus the Nation lasted only a day, the emphasis on solutions to climate change will be long-lasting at UC Berkeley, where we have committed to reducing our carbon footprint to 1990 levels in the next six years (by 2014).