UAS Evening at Egan Lecture Series continues October 4 with “Alaska Beyond Oil,” featuring author Kate Troll

The annual fall lecture series Evening at Egan continues October 4 at the University of Alaska Southeast Auke Lake campus with a presentation by columnist and author Kate Troll.

Juneau, Alaska

Date of Press Release: September 30, 2019

The annual fall lecture series Evening at Egan continues October 4 at the University of Alaska Southeast Auke Lake campus with a presentation by columnist and author Kate Troll. In this talk, Kate Troll will discuss the world’s effort to stay below the two degree Celsius threshold set by the Paris Climate Accord, signed by 196 countries. She will look back at where Alaska’s economy has come since the pipeline boom started, noting new industries and growth within Alaska’s core industries.

“A majority of Alaskans support renewable energy and want the state to address climate change, yet there is no vision or plan to do so,” notes Kate, “Could this be because oil has been so ingrained in Alaska’s politics and psyche that it’s hard to think about Alaska beyond oil?” She makes the case that Alaskans should not fear this shift in global energy policy, and will also examine the ongoing clean energy economy, and how Alaska can benefit by joining in.

In addition to being an Alaskan author, Kate describes herself as an adventurer and activist. She served as a political, environmental/climate change columnist for the Anchorage Daily News from 2016-2018. Before that she wrote for the Juneau Empire. She is the author of The Great Unconformity: Reflections on Hope in an Imperiled World and has written several screenplays.

She moved to Alaska in 1977, seeking wilderness and a career in natural resource management. As Executive Director of the Alaska Conservation Voters, Kate helped draft the creation of the Alaska Renewable Energy Fund and lobbied for the Sustainable Energy Act, a comprehensive roadmap to generate 50% of Alaska’s electrical energy from renewable sources by 2025. She is known for her work in fisheries development and policy, as well as marine stewardship within Alaska and the United States, and internationally. She was elected to public office twice, serving on the Juneau-Douglas Borough and Ketchikan Borough Assembly. Kate was appointed by Governor Sarah Palin to serve on the Alaska Climate Mitigation Advisory Board, and was the only Alaskan invited to participate in Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2008 Global Climate Summit.

All Evening at Egan lectures are scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Egan Library and live-streamed on the UAS YouTube channel. Presentations can be watched live or recorded. View the full schedule for the lectures series.