In honor of Earth Day this week, NPR broadcasted a live debate hosted by Intelligence Squared; the motion on the floor:
“Major Reductions in Carbon Emissions are Not Worth the Money.“
If you are not familiar with Intelligence Squared, they are a fantastic organization that hosts Oxford style debates live in New York City that are broadcasted to a national audience on NPR. The Oxford format is interesting because the audience weighs in at the outset of the debate and once again after completion, and the “winner” is the side that is able to sway a higher percentage of attendees’ minds.
This heated earth day debate include heavy hitters on both sides:
For the motion: Peter Huber, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute; Bjorn Lomberg, Copenhagen Business School professor and author of The Skeptical Environmentalist; and University of London professor Phillip Stott.
Against the motion: L. Hunter Lovins, founder of The Rocky Mountain Institute and author of Natural Capitalism; Adam Werbach, the youngest ever president of the Sierra Club and San Francisco native; and British journalist Olive Tickell.
I won’t give away the winner because both sides make insightful comments so the debate is definitely worth listening to yourself.
And if you are intrigued by the topic of carbon emissions, another interesting article to read is a NYTimes article on renown scientist Freeman Dyson that has recently sparked controversy and produced a significant amount of feedback from readers.
