Published: Aug. 15, 2013

A standing-room-only crowd in the Wolf Law Building’s Wittemyer Courtroom and nearly 100 others in an overflow room gathered yesterday as EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Colorado Sen. Mark Udall discussed President Obama’s Climate Action Plan at the CU Law School.
 
“You’re probably asking why Boulder, why here, why now?” said McCarthy, who started her new post on July 18. “Why not?”
 
“What we need to do is get over talking about the problem and start designing the solution,” she said. “There are many on both sides of the aisle that care about the environment and our natural resources.”
 
The event also featured a panel discussion with former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University, Colorado Oil and Gas Association President Tisha Schuller and Brad Udall, director of the law school’s Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment.
 
The two things Americans must do are to lower the emission of greenhouse gases and to adapt to a changing climate because of the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, McCarthy said.
 
She praised climate change initiatives originating at the city and state levels in places like Boulder and Colorado, as well as work on climate change by academic researchers and organizations like the Getches-Wilkinson Center.
 
A video of the event will be posted on the Colorado Law website. Go to the law school home page at http://www.colorado.edu/law/ and then click on the video icon at the bottom of the of the page to access the video.

Photo: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy speaks before a panel discussion of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan at the University of Colorado Law School on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013. The panel included former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, Colorado Oil and Gas Association President Tisha Schuller and Brad Udall, director of the law school’s Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment. The standing-room only event was open to the public. (Photo by Glenn Asakawa/University of Colorado)