W&L's Kahn to Discuss Energy Future
James R. Kahn, the John F. Hendon Professor of Economics at Washington and Lee University, will give a public lecture on Tuesday, March 27, at 5:30 p.m. in Northen Auditorium of Leyburn Library, W&L.
The title of the talk, which is free and open to the public, is “Guidelines for Thinking About Our Energy Future.”
“As a society, we don’t know how to frame the discussion about energy issues,” Kahn said. “We tend to be very short-term oriented in terms of wanting immediate payback of energy investments, rather than taking a more long term approach. We are too focused on price and not the full social costs of our energy choices. We are so focused on reducing the role of government that we forget the role of government in sponsoring and facilitating research and development, technological innovation and dispersion of new technology. As we move forward, we need a comprehensive plan.”
Also the director of the Environmental Studies Program at W&L, Kahn is the author of The Economic Approach to Environmental and Natural Resources (1995), which has been published as a second (1998) and third edition (2005). He has co-edited four books including A Handbook on Contingent Valuation (2006) and Does Environmental Policy Work? The Theory and Practice of Outcomes Assessment (2003).
Kahn has taught various courses at over five South American universities including Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Universidade Federal do Pernumbuco and Universade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.
He received his B.A. at Washington and Lee University and his M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Maryland, College Park.
News Contact:
Julie Cline
News Writer
jcline@wlu.edu
540-458-8954
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