Former U.S. Secretary of Interior to speak at MSU
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Gale Norton, who played a key role in shaping national energy policies as U.S. Secretary of the Interior, will talk about the costs and benefits of striving for energy sustainability in “Energy, Wildlife and Jobs: Environmental and Economic Realities” at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, in the James Madison Library, third floor of Case Hall.
Norton will look at the relative footprints of renewable energy and fossil fuels, as well as the siting problems that will be faced by renewable mega-projects, the potential impacts on wildlife habitat and other land uses, and the folly of hoping for a magic bullet.
Her talk is part of the Boone and Crockett Distinguished Lectureship Series, the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability and James Madison College.
A member of President George W. Bush’s cabinet, Norton from 2001-2006 managed more than 20 percent of the land area of the United States, a Fortune-500-sized budget and a workforce of 70,000 employees.
In the face of crises including the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, increasing domestic energy production became a major focus for Norton’s term. She oversaw lands and offshore areas that produced a third of America's domestic oil, natural gas, and coal. She was actively involved in consideration of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, offshore and onshore oil and gas production, coalmine leasing and reclamation, hydroelectric generation, as well as biomass, wind and geothermal development.
Norton currently is a senior adviser for Clean Range Ventures, an energy technology venture capital firm.
