Guest Lecturer Bill Nye Advocates For Environmental Action

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Author: Riley Kimball

Last Saturday, scientist and Emmy award-winning television star Bill Nye “The Science Guy” delivered the annual Phi Beta Kappa lecture to a packed Johnson 200. Nye’s lecture, entitled “The Earth Isn’t What It Used Be, So Let’s Change the World,” illustrated Earth’s deterioration as a result of human activity.

The goal of the lecture, according to Nye, was to inspire his audience to “change the world.” Nye’s visit was funded by the college’s Reunitz Trust Endowment.

“I always tell people [that] if you’re really a scientist then you become an environmentalist,” Nye said in an interview following his lecture. “You realize that your place in the universe is pretty fragile, so you have to take care of it.”

Beginning with anecdotes about his childhood fascination with the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, Nye discussed revolutionary technologies – such as wind and geothermal energy, eco-batteries and agricultural practices – that maximize harvest with minimal land usage and how they could help combat climate change.

Citing worldwide population growth and the exponential increase of greenhouse gas emissions as the greatest threats to Earth, Nye said that now may be humanity’s last chance to save the planet.

However, Nye believes a reduction of greenhouse gases is possible with the help of today’s emerging technology.

“My grandfather grew up when everyone had horse-drawn carriages, and now everybody has a car. A lot can change in 20 years. Concepts that seem crazy now will allow us to do more with less,” he said to the audience.

Students who attended the talk responded positively to Nye’s proposals. “He was really funny and his ideas for ‘changing the world’ were original and creative,” Austen Oliver (junior) said.

In addition, students said that Nye legitimized for them what was previously only a childhood memory.

“It was great to see that Bill Nye is not only the hilarious guy from Mrs. Johnson’s third grade science class, but also an innovative and prominent member of the scientific community,” said Sara D’Amore (sophomore).

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