FALL 2007 HONORS COURSES

HONR239A: Scientific and Social Issues in Transformation to a Green Economy: It Isn’t Easy Being Green
Tu/Th. 12:30-1:45 PM
Dr. Jack Tossell, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

In January of 2007, a group of CEO’s from the chemical and energy industries encouraged President Bush to respond more aggressively to the threat of global warming. For a few years preceding, several large chemical companies had focused attention on “green chemistry,” a process for conserving resources and eliminating pollution before it happens. More recently, several industries have focused upon the idea of “sustainability,” using processes that cause minimum degradation of the resources and environment of the Earth. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported in February of 2007 that global climate change was already occurring and could have severe consequences.

In this course we will explore global climate change. We will first focus upon the science involved and the role of specialist climate scientists, the broader scientific community and policy makers in drawing attention to this issue. We will then consider some of the methods proposed for remediation of these problems. But such remediations often prove difficult to implement. For example, William Clay Ford, Jr., former CEO of Ford Motor Co. and an ardent environmentalist, proposed in the 1990’s to create a “green” company but then focused on the sale of minivan’s and SUV’s until sales for such vehicles fell in 2006. Our considerations will involve both global, institutional components and personal considerations. What impact will global climate change have upon the way we perform in the future as citizens and professionals?

We hope to take advantage of the expertise available at UMCP, including the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center as well as the resources of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. We will attempt to develop a short lab component so that students can experience a chemical laboratory in both traditional and green variants.

Grades will be determined on the basis of several problem sets, two class presentations, and two papers.

The text will be Green Chemistry and the Ten Commandments of Sustainability by Stanley Manahan, a prominent environmental chemist. Other readings will be made available on a Blackboard web site and

CORE: Physical Sciences, non-lab [PS]