Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

PCC joins 'Focus the Nation' to target climate change

Photos and Story by James Hill

Portland Community College has joined the “Focus the Nation: Global Warming Solutions for America” event on Thursday, Jan 31, where teachers and students across the country are facilitating discussions and workshops that focus on climate change solutions.

The event is an unprecedented educational initiative, involving more than a 1,000 colleges, universities, high schools, middle schools, faith groups, civic organizations and businesses across the country. Focus the Nation aims to help shift the national conversation about global warming toward a solution. The day will be used as a teach-in, which an entire school turns its attention to a single issue.

The day will culminate in an evening discussion, starting at 5 p.m., at the University of Portland’s Chiles Center, 5000 N. Willamette Blvd. In coordination with Portland Community College, Portland State University, Lewis & Clark College and other Oregon colleges and universities, this event will feature a “Green Democracy” forum where students from nine universities and colleges across Oregon will pose questions to four policy makers. Sandra Tsing Loh of National Public Radio is serving as moderator and host. The forum will air live on Oregon Public Broadcasting radio stations throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington from 6 to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, although registration and tickets are required.

The event includes a variety of entertainment, including crowd participation, “global warming haiku,” music, and climate change themed comedy with "Live Wire." Hillstomp will open and the band Stars of Track and Field will conclude the event. Panelists on the roundtable will include Gov. Ted Kulongoski and State Rep. Jackie Dingfelder, chair of the Oregon House Energy and Environment Committee.

Focus the Nation was conceived by Eban Goodstein, an economics professor from Lewis & Clark College, as an effort to bring national recognition to the issue of global warming solutions. For more information on the evening discussion, visit: http://orgs.up.edu/climatechange/

At each PCC campus, displays and workshops are on the agenda for Jan. 31. Workshop topics include ice age issues, medicinal plants, green communities, solar power and more. These workshops and interactive lectures are free and open to the public. Campus schedules include:

Rock Creek Campus (17705 N.W. Springville Road): https://www.pcc.edu/about/sustainability/projects/rockcreekftn.html

Sylvania Campus (12000 S.W. 49th Ave.): https://www.pcc.edu/about/sustainability/projects/sylvaniaftn.html

Cascade Campus (705 N. Killingsworth St.):

https://www.pcc.edu/about/sustainability/projects/cascadeftn.html

For more information on the day at the national level, visit www.focusthenation.org.