ODU to Host Panel Discussion on 'The Ethical and Social Aspects of Climate Change'

It's an issue where scientists have, largely, reached a consensus. Society at large, however, is not of uniform thought about the issue of climate change.

Old Dominion University's Institute for Ethics and Public Affairs and ODU's multidisciplinary Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative will host a panel discussion this month to look at ethical decision making and societal impacts of climate change.

The program, titled "Hot Issues: The Ethical and Social Aspects of Climate Change," begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 29, in Chandler Recital Hall of the Diehn Center for the Performing Arts.

Joseph F. Bouchard of the Virginia Conservation Network, a retired Navy captain and recognized expert on the economic and national security aspects of environmental and climate change, will moderate the forum.

Panelists include Joyce Hoffmann, associate professor of English at ODU; Burton St. John, assistant professor of communication at ODU; and Justin Biddle, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy at Georgia Institute of Technology.

This event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in Parking Garage E, at 49th Street and Bluestone Ave. Please contact Robyn Bluhm, assistant professor of philosophy with any questions (phone: 757-683-6705; email: rbluhm@odu.edu).

The Institute for Ethics and Public Affairs exists to raise awareness and stimulate discussion of the ethical dimensions of matters of public concern, within both the ODU campus community and the larger Hampton Roads community. It is housed in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, and its co-directors are members of that department. Its mission includes the following:

• Strengthen moral community and foster a commitment to ethical ideals in public life.
• Facilitate reflection on the ethical standards that govern the professions.
• Highlight the unique and valuable contribution that philosophical reasoning can make to practical decision making.

ODU's Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative was created to identify the multifaceted impact climate change and rising sea levels will have on the Hampton Roads region. Led by former ODU President James Koch and Larry Atkinson, Samuel and Fay Slover Professor of Oceanography at ODU, the project pulls together the university and region's foremost experts to find solutions to the anticipated effects on the local economy, housing, ports and infrastructure.