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Climate and Energy

Vietnam and PSU: Tapping popular culture to talk climate change

April 25, 2013 - 11:34am — Christina Williams
In Vietnam, popular culture—including songs, stories, and poster art—has long been used to unite and mobilize the general public during their centuries-long struggles for national independence. The same tradition should be tapped to help the country face the challenges posed by climate change, says Khanh Pham, a Vietnamese-American Ph.D. student in Portland State University’s urban studies program

Serious gaming: adapting to urban climate challenges

April 25, 2013 - 10:22am — Laura Gleim
Portland State students and city officials from the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability gathered last week at PSU’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions to play a board game called "Broken Cities," which simulates the economic and environmental consequences of different types of urban development. The game plays like a combination of Monopoly and Sim City, but with an added twist of climate science.

Between the punch lines, a plea for a price on carbon

March 7, 2013 - 2:37pm — Christina Williams
Yoram Bauman bills himself as the world’s only standup economist but his presentation at Portland State University’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions this week also included a serious side: An argument for a carbon tax and a pitch for how one could pencil out for Oregon.

“Do the Math” on climate change

November 16, 2012 - 5:20pm — Grant Lynn Neely
Last Thursday, self-proclaimed “professional bummer-outer” Bill McKibben was at Portland State via a livestream broadcast for the second stop in his 21-city “Do the Math” tour. McKibben is leading a nationwide tour to inspire universities and organizations to divest from the fossil fuel industry.

Emerging renewable energy in Oregon

May 1, 2012 - 3:55pm — Laura Gleim
On the same day Governor Kitzhaber called for an extensive federal review of coal export proposals in the Northwest, Oregon’s First Lady Cylvia Hayes joined a panel of clean energy advocates for a discussion on emerging renewable energy possibilities in Oregon.

Rainforest: use it or lose it

March 14, 2012 - 12:00am — Jenny DuVander
Years ago, “save the rainforest” was a slogan that entrenched the man-versus-nature mindset. Today, conservationists increasingly understand that preserving the rainforests must go hand in hand with promoting the rural livelihoods of the people who live there.

SWEET solutions: monitoring global public health solutions from PSU

November 21, 2011 - 12:00am — Laura Gleim
Nearly a billion people lack access to clean drinking water, and half the world’s population burns wood as a sole means of cooking and sanitation. Consequently, two million people—mostly kids—die every year from contaminated water, and millions more from upper-respiratory disease caused by prolonged exposure to black soot. Unbelievable.