The devastating environmental and climate consequences of extraction energy sources such as nuclear and fossil fuels require that we change to renewable and sustainable sources. Arjun Makhijani, author of “Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for US Energy Policy” explains how we can achieve this goal. Then Alison Burchell, founder of Clean Energy Action in Boulder, CO, will explain their campaign to move off of fossil fuels towards renewable sources and create a municipally-owned energy utility at the same time.
Relevant Articles, Books and Websites:
Carbon-Free, Nuclear-Free Energy Economy is Inevitable by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers
Dirty Energy’s Dirty Tactics: Boulder On The Front Lines Of The Renewable Energy Future by Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese
*Support Boulder’s Efforts here: IndieGoGo Project
Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy by Arjun Makhijani
Fukushima Reflections on the Second Anniversary of the Accident by Arjun Makhijani
Colorado at the Forefront of Renewables by Lauren Stanford
Video: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima featuring Arjun Makhijani
Arjun Makhijani is the President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, holds a Ph.D. in engineering (specialization: nuclear fusion) from the University of California at Berkeley. He has produced many studies and articles on nuclear fuel cycle related issues, including weapons production, testing, and nuclear waste, over the past twenty years. He is the principal author of the first study ever done (completed in 1971) on energy conservation potential in the U.S. economy. Most recently, Dr, Makhijani has authored Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy (IEER Press), the first analysis of a transition to a U.S. economy based completely on renewable energy, without any use of fossil fuels or nuclear power. He is the principal editor of Nuclear Wastelands and the principal author of Mending the Ozone Hole, both published by MIT Press.
is a geologic consultant whose clients include the business and non-profit sectors, government agencies and stakeholder groups involved in a range of projects including: mapping and geochemical surveys, ecosystem assessment, reclamation, natural hazards, renewable-energy site-assessment, health- and environmental- related legislation. Her undergraduate work was in Chemistry with a minor in Environmental Sciences and Planning. She received her graduate degree in Volcanology and Isotope-Geochemistry under a Department of Interior – US Geologic Survey Fellowship at the University of Arizona. She holds advanced certificates in Multispectral and Radar Remote Sensing Analysis, Database Design, GIS, Scuba and EPA hazardous materials sampling, detection and calibration.
Her current research is focused on understanding and quantifying the mechanisms and kinetics of natural biologic, geologic, chemical and physical processes by which carbon is removed from the atmosphere and stored in terrestrial sinks. This work has led her towards an integrative, bio-geo-mimicry approach to researching and understanding complex terrestrial problems. This systems-integrated research and her involvement with a variety of stakeholder groups has influenced a Collaborative Impact approach towards helping communities, businesses and boards achieve their sustainablilty goals. Since moving to Boulder, she has served on several state and local working-groups and non-profit boards tasked with promoting public education, developing public policy or modeling and mitigating a range of environmental problems. She is a member of the City of Boulder – Energy Future Task Force and co-founder of Clean Energy Action, Renewables Yes and Empower Our Future – a broad coalition of citizens, businesses, elected and former officials and organizations working to promote the Boulder Clean Energy Future project and moving to assist other communities asses their own clean energy options.