Provost Lecture - Andrew Revkin: Which Comes First: Peak Everything or Peak Us?

After a day of Earthstock festivities, Andrew Revkin, a New York Times reporter and author of the Dot Earth blog, spoke about his experiences and new environmental issues we face today.

Revkin said that the greenhouse gasses being emitted in China and India through the coming decades are going to negate what small gains we might get here if we are proactive.

Revkin said that in the 21st century we have to become engaged. In addition, scientists need to communicate "more creatively and aggressively." According to Revkin, scientists and sociologists need to work together to learn about us as a species.

After Revkin graduated from Brown with a biology degree and received a fellowship to study "Man's Relationship to the Sea," he went to a village in French Polynesia where there was no television and the people, according to Revkin, existed in a cultural vacuum. But when he went back ten years later in 1988, they had television and phones, and were moving to the city. At first, he wanted to tell them not to go, but he realized it was not his place to interfere with their decisions. This journey made him want to be a journalist.

Revkin also touched upon some of the hurdles that are experienced in a newsroom, specifically when competing for a story on the front page.

"A newsroom is like a jungle," Revkin said. "It is full of competitive elements—plants and vines all vying for the light in the forest. In the newsroom, the light is the front page. The stuff that gets on the front page is the stuff that competes best in that environment." Many times the environmental stories didn't make the cut.

Revkin lamented how for the past decade the United States has been in a "bipartisan slumber party" when looking at alternative forms of energy and energy issues. Recently though, there has been a slight increase in funds due to President Barack Obama's stimulus package.

Even so, Revkin did talk about positive changes already taking place. He referred to Seoul, South Korea, where a major roadway was transformed into a stream, resulting in less pollution.

"It's become a wonderful cool zone in this incredibly dense, concrete city," Revkin said. "It's totally possible to reinvent cities."