Soho Forum Debate: Andrew Dessler vs. Steven Koonin

Monday, August 15, 2022

Andrew Dessler vs. Steven Koonin

Resolution:

Climate science compels us to make large and rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

For the affirmative: 

Andrew Dessler is a climate scientist who studies both the science and politics of climate change.  He is a Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and holder of the Reta A. Haynes Chair in Geosciences at Texas A&M University.  His scientific research revolves around climate feedbacks, in particular how water vapor and clouds act to amplify warming from the carbon dioxide that humans emit. During the last year of the Clinton Administration, he served as a Senior Policy Analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Based on his research and policy experience, he has authored two books about climate change and one book about stratospheric ozone.  His educational background includes a B.A. in physics from Rice University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Harvard University. He also did postdoctoral work at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Prior to graduate school, he worked in the energy group at The First Boston Corporation doing mergers and acquisitions analysis.

For the negative: 

Steven Koonin is the author of Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What it Doesn’t, and Why it Matters (2021). He joined New York University Stern School of Business as a Professor of Information, Operations and Management Sciences in September 2012. He is also Director of NYU's new Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP). Professor Koonin was confirmed by the Senate in May 2009 as Undersecretary for Science at the U.S. Department of Energy, serving in that position until November, 2011. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, he was BP's Chief Scientist, where he was a strong advocate for research into renewable energies and alternate fuel sources. He came to BP in 2004 after almost three decades as Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology, serving as the Institute's Vice President and Provost for the last nine years.

Venue TBA

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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Venue TBA, TBA, New York, United States