Otterbein University returned to the political spotlight on March 8 when the climate crisis coalition World War Zero, created by former Secretary of State John Kerry, held a discussion called “Climate Conversations Town Hall” in Cowan Hall.
The conversation, moderated by actress and activist Erika Alexander and covered by CNN, included Kerry, actor and former Gov. of California Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Gov. of Ohio John Kasich.
In his opening statement, Kerry said that “deniers, delayers, procrastinators, and distorters have, in fact, declared a war on science, on facts, on evidence.” This war, Kerry said, allowed the Trump administration to back away from the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement he helped negotiate.
When asked by the audience about nuclear power plants, Kerry mentioned that the introduction of nuclear energy may decrease interest in other forms of renewable energy.
Schwarzenegger said that putting the current impact of pollution in human terms best communicated the climate crisis to Californians and defeated the fossil fuel companies in the polls. “Our brain is not wired for what’s going to happen ten years from now, five years from now, or 20 years from now, it’s wired at what is happening today,” Schwarzenegger said.
An online submitter asked how to get Republicans involved on the climate change issue, and Republicans Schwarzenegger and Kasich stressed the importance of party cooperation. “It’s not a party issue because there is no Democratic air or Republican air. There is no Democratic water or Republican water. We all drink the same water,” Schwarzenegger said.
“Many companies are going green. Even some of the banks are saying that they aren’t going to fund the development of these coal plants anymore. I want you to know that the business community is worried about you and your future,” Kasich said to a young boy who asked why companies still use fossil fuels.
Kasich was the focus of the conversation’s last question, a local environmental activist asking him about the regulated fracking he allowed as governor. “I am pleased that we were able to do fracking … We put rules on methane that were more strict than any other state in the country, and we are very proud of that,” Kasich said.
Kerry interjected before Kasich was able to answer the activist’s question asking if the former Ohio governor thought the methane was good for the environment, but an earlier explanation Kasich gave of the science of climate change alluded to its contribution to damage dealt to the ozone layer.
