Video Library of Past Events

A moderated debate hosted by Brian G. Henning, Director of the Gonzaga Center for Climate, Society, and the Environment, Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies.

Proponents of the rights of nature argue that the environmental regulatory system – which treats nature as merely property to be owned – has failed to protect nature and our own life support systems, and that a radical change in the law is needed which re-positions humanity in the role of a guardian or trustee of the best interests of those natural systems.

Opponents of this approach see recognizing the rights of nature as inappropriate and ultimately demeaning to the special dignity of the human person – undermining a rights-based system of law which makes humans exceptional.

The leading proponent and opponent will come together to debate this important issue. The Rights of Nature: Saving the Planet or Harmful to Humanity?

We will discuss our recent book: Fridays, Flint, and Fire: The Climate Girl Effect that explores girls’ technofeminist activism in the climate justice movement. This activism takes the form of apps and video games, letters, protest, funktivism, launching non-profits, and lawsuits. In the current moment, girl activists challenge traditional gender boundaries as they fight for a livable future.

About the speakers:Carolyn Cunningham and Heather Crandall have been researching, publishing, teaching, and presenting together for years on topics of gender, technology, and social media activism. They have a chapter in the book, Social Media for Social Justice: Cyberfeminism in the Digital Village, they won a top paper award for their paper on hashtag activism that later became a journal article in Explorations in Media Ecology. They both are affiliate faculty in the Women’s and Gender Studies program at Gonzaga. As educators, Dr. Cunningham and Dr. Crandall designed and taught a course on Women, Communication and Leadership that turned into their edited collection, Gender, Communication, and the Leadership Gap (2017). Dr. Cunningham and Dr. Crandall are excited to share insights from their new book, Fridays, Flint, and Fire: The Climate Girl Effect (forthcoming May 2022).

What do local candidates for office think about climate change? How will it affect your vote? Gonzaga University’s Center for Climate, Society, and the Environment will host the third annual Spokane Candidates Climate Change Forum for voters to hear local candidates’ thoughts about the topic before the November election. The event is free and open to all.

Avista Utilities, Puget Sound Energy and four other northwest energy companies own the Colstrip coal plant in eastern Montana that has always been one of the top three – and sometimes #1 – climate polluter in the American West. After a 10-year campaign, the plant is on a path toward closure eliminating up to 17 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, equal to the climate emissions of over three million cars. How did we get there? What can we learn?

The Colstrip campaign has commonalities with most climate campaigns. There are essential campaign approaches that must be followed in order to ensure we are effective in ending the climate crisis. This presentation uses the Colstrip campaign as a case study to help inform effective climate campaigns for the work that lies ahead.

About the speakers:Doug Howell has been a social and environmental advocate for 30 years. The majority of Doug’s professional career has focused on environmental issues, primarily global warming. In the 1980s in Washington, DC, Doug worked for U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) on environmental and other issues. In 1990, Doug worked for a law firm where his main client was the California Energy Commission (CEC). For next nine years, Doug worked for the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), where he created and directed their transportation and energy program. In 2000, Doug was hired by Seattle City Light to implement their first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas (GHG) neutral program. In 2004, Doug moved to King County to develop their climate protection program, including the first-in-the-nation long-term GHG reduction targets and implementation plan. In 2007, Doug was hired to run the Northwest regional office for the National Wildlife Federation where he managed staff, raised money and set the pathway for NWF’s future direction in the Northwest. In 2009, Doug joined the Sierra Club to run their Coal-Free Northwest campaign. In this capacity, Doug sets the priorities, develops the implementation plan, and coordinates organizational field staff, Sierra Club departments and external partners to make the Northwest the first coal-free region in the United States.

Recently the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the first comprehensive update to our understanding of climate science (Assessment Report 6 or AR6) in seven years. In this presentation Gonzaga Biology Professors Hugh Lefcort and Betsy Bancroft will share some of the key findings from this latest climate science report and its significance. Attendees are encouraged to come with questions and ideas for discussion.

About the speakers: Dr. Hugh Lefcort is Professor of Biology at Gonzaga University. Dr. Lefcort served as a peer reviewer on the IPCC's sixth Assessment Report. Dr. Betsy Bancroft is Associate Professor of Biology and of Environmental Studies at Gonzaga University.