The Evergreen State College, St. Martin's University, South Puget Sound Community College, and Centralia College Commit to Focus the Nation on Global Warming.

Event Commences at 7:00 p.m. at the Washington Center, January 30, 2008

(Olympia, Wash) The Evergreen State College, St. Martin's University, South Puget Sound Community College, and Centralia College have joined together to host a community forum on global warming to be held January 30, 2008 at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts – Stage 1. The Focus the Nation community forum is free to the public. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. and the forum will begin at 7:00 p.m. The first 500 people through the door will receive an ENERGY STAR® qualified compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb courtesy of Puget Sound Energy.

Creating a Climate of Change: A Community Forum on Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest will kick off with opening remarks by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. Mayor Nickels spearheaded the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, in which mayors across the nation commit to reduce emissions in their cities to seven percent bforuelow 1990 levels by 2012. Since its launch in 2005, well over 500 mayors have committed to this goal, and the number continues to rise, highlighting concrete steps taken by communities throughout the country. The forum will also bring together local and state government officials, scientific experts and community members. The event will be moderated by the Associated Press state political writer David Ammons.

The event aims include the following:

increasing action to address the challenge of climate change locally with sound practices,
increasing knowledge and personal commitments to assess and act for energy efficiency and assess strategies and technologies in efforts to deal with climate change,
demonstrating area communities’ willingness to act with responsibility toward the climate.

The partnering organizations are proud participants in Focus the Nation, a nationwide campaign that is bringing campuses and communities together to find solutions to the challenges of global warming. Activities will also take place at each of the campuses during the day. The day’s global warming teach-in activities are coordinated by area institutions of higher education in an unprecedented partnership, including The Evergreen State College, the South Puget Sound Community College, Centralia College, and St. Martin’s University. The growing list of sponsors for the event includes The City of Olympia, InterCity Transit, The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, and Puget Sound Energy.

The event is part of a larger series of actions that Washington State and its academic communities are undertaking in continuing response to climate change.

For more information on the evening’s events, visit http://focusthenation.evergreen.edu.
For directions to the Washington Center for the Performing Arts located at 512 Washington Street. SE, in downtown Olympia, visit http://www.washingtoncenter.org/directions/.
For more information on daytime events occurring on the four partner’s campuses, visit http://focusthenation.evergreen.edu.
For information on the national Focus the Nation campaign visit, http://www.focusthenation.org.

The Evergreen State College is a nationally recognized public liberal arts college known for its distinctive interdisciplinary curriculum, high level of student/faculty engagement and emphasis on putting learning into action.