GSA INSIDE THE BELTWAY: AN INSIDE PERSPECTIVE ON INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN CLIMATE SCIENCE AND CLIMATE POLICY

Climate policy has dominated national headlines in 2017. From the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, to challenges to the science underlying EPA’s endangerment finding through a proposed “red team – blue team” debate, to commitments to address climate change among local and state governments, to the growth of a bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus in the House of Representatives, U.S. policymakers at all levels are taking action, often in contradictory ways. Scientists and members of The Geological Society of America (GSA) conduct research on past, present and future climates, as well as petroleum and other sources of energy. How can the GSA organization and its members productively engage in these policy decisions? This talk will address current climate policy issues and as well as GSA activities including its Climate Change position statement, letters to government officials on key climate change topics, Climate Science Day visits to legislators, and more.