Symposium to Celebrate the Career of Robert Williams
Drastic changes in climate policy under the Trump administration should not cause environmental advocates to lose hope, a panel of experts said at a recent symposium at Princeton University’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.
Even though the administration and Congressional leaders have begun to reverse policies aimed at reducing atmospheric carbon emissions, the panelists said that many opportunities remain to push policies and technologies to mitigate climate change. In fact, a number of technologies, from solar power to increased energy efficiency, already have momentum that may be unstoppable.
“This issue will not go away,” said David Hawkins, director of the Climate Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The business community knows that it won’t go away. The markets believe in climate change because the markets are anchored in reality.”
Hawkins was part of a panel at the symposium, “Energy for a Carbon-Constrained World,” which was held April 3 to celebrate the career of Robert Williams, senior research scientist and head of the Energy Systems Analysis Group at the Andlinger Center. Williams retired from Princeton this year after a 47-year career during which he received a MacArthur Fellowship for groundbreaking research into sustainable energy development.