The Stuart and Nancy Rabinowitz Honors College invited Robert Pollin to lecture on the sustainability of capitalism to celebrated its 20th anniversary. // Photo courtesy of Jacob Lewis.
Hofstra University’s Stuart and Nancy Rabinowitz Honors College celebrated its 20th anniversary on Tuesday, May 3. To commemorate the day, students and faculty members gathered in the Helene Fortunoff Theater to hear the university administration discuss the program.
Following the speakers was a lecture by Robert Pollin, distinguished professor of economics and director of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Pollin spoke on the “Green New Deal,” a book he co-authored, which addresses the climate crisis through the framework of capitalism. This topic has been the main focus of several culture and expression (C&E) courses within the Honors College this semester.
“This is something that we’ve been discussing in our course throughout the semester,” said Caleb Rockhill, a first year Honors College student and a junior political science and rhetoric and public advocacy double major. “And there are people who thought that we would have to get rid of capitalism if we wanted to solve the climate crisis.”
Instead of erasing capitalism from the country, Pollin believes the U.S. economy could be transformed to a more ecologically sustainable framework.
“While it would require a very different form of capitalism than we have right now,” Rockhill said, “it would still be a form of capitalism.”
There is in fact a climate crisis, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) assessment report that was issued on Monday, Feb. 28.
“Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world,” read the report. “Despite efforts to reduce the risks, people and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit.”
Failure to address the climate crisis will result in extreme heat, heavy precipitation, droughts and biodiversity losses with impacts on health, livelihoods, food security, water and human security, according to Pollin.
“This report is a dire warning about the consequences of inaction,” said Houesung Lee, chair of the IPCC. “It shows that climate change is a grave and mounting threat to our wellbeing and a healthy planet.”
Pollin advocated for the Green New Deal, saying that the Transform, Heal and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy (THRIVE) program lays out a plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 50% by 2030 and to have zero emissions by 2050. This could stabilize the global mean temperature rise at 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels by 2100. However, Pollin also said that action is needed for this to happen.
“By 2015, New York was going to be 29% renewable, but it was not mandatory,” Pollin said. “There was no legal enforcement mechanism; 2015 came and went and we didn’t hit the target – the level of response has been inadequate for decades, and we’re truly running out of time.”
Following the presentation, microphones were passed around the theater, allowing students to ask Pollin questions.
“When we think about the climate crisis, we can often feel very small as students,” said Yasmin Abreu Cardoso Cunha, a junior comparative literature major. “What do you suggest for us students to do right now in taking action to combat that feeling of being so small?”
Pollin answered the question by citing an example of the action taken by students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Students demanded that something be done to reduce carbon emissions at the university, and the school will now be at zero percent emission in 20 years.
Pollin urged the students in the theater to advocate for reducing carbon emissions at Hofstra.
“The Green New Deal is not just a thing for research scientists and Silicon Valley,” he said. “The Honors College is just the place to start.”
Administration from the Honors College believe that Hofstra students will be able to do the same thing.
“I am confident that we have the commitment, the discipline and the energy to prosper as never before,” said Warren Frisina, dean of the Honors College.
After listening to the lecture, Rockhill felt more hopeful and motivated about addressing the climate crisis.
“It was nice to know that there is a plan that seems like it would work,” he said. “We just have to implement it.”
