PoliTALK hosts Midterm Madness 2010 Election Bracket; Guest Speaker Indur Goklany October 7th

PoliTALK is one of four student-led discussion groups that the Rockefeller Center supports.  For the first PoliTALK meeting of the fall term on September 30th, the PoliTALK team tried something completely new. Paying homage to basketball's March Madness and many political pundits favorite pastime -  prognosticating - PoliTALK established the Midterm Madness 2010 Election Bracket. Students picked winners in a large number of competitive senate races and predicted the composition of the House and Senate for the 112th Congress. After the midterm elections PoliTALK will host a post-election analysis discussion group, where we will award a prize to the best political prophet in the group!

On Thursday, October 7th, PoliTALK will be hosting a special guest speaker, Indur Gaklany, for their 6:30 PM meeting.   Mr. Goklany will be giving a lecture,  "The Improving State of the World", in 001 Rockefeller Center at 4:30 PM, and then join PoliTALK for a dinner discussion at 6:30 PM.

- Mason Cole '13 and Ben Schifberg '13, PoliTALK Discussion Leaders

"The Improving State of the World"

Pollution. Disease. Poverty. Population growth.
Think we're destroying ourselves and the planet?

Here's another perspective.
Things might actually be getting better.

In this talk, Indur Goklany will discuss empirical trends in human well-being from the Industrial Revolution onward, why these improvements occurred and how continued progress is possible.

THURSDAY, October 7
1 Rockefeller Hall
4:30pm

A reception catered by Murphy's will be held outside Rocky 1 at 4:15pm. This is a fantastic opportunity to meet the speaker, ask questions, and eat some delicious food before the event begins. Additionally, PoliTALK will be hosting a dinner discussion with Mr. Goklany following his lecture.

This event is cosponsored by the Dartmouth Libertarians, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center and PoliTALK.

Indur M. Goklany is an independent scholar whose work examines the interrelationships among globalization, economic development, human well-being, environmental quality, and technological change. Over a career spanning more than 35 years in government, think tanks and the private sector, Goklany has helped pioneer innovative environmental policy ideas, including emissions trading, habitat and biodiversity conservation through increased productivity and efficiency of land and water use, and boosting the adaptive capacity and resilience of developing countries against climate change through sustainable economic development, technological change, and trade. He has been associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since its inception in 1988 as an author, expert reviewer, and U.S. delegate. His books include The Precautionary Principle: A Critical Appraisal of Environmental Risk Assessment; Clearing the Air: The Real Story of the War on Air Pollution; and, most recently, The Improving State of the World: Why We're Living Longer, Healthier, More Comfortable Lives on a Cleaner Planet. He was also the recipient of the 2007 Julian Simon Prize.