Discussion of Governors on State-Level Innovation
10:30am, Yale Law School Auditorium, 127 Wall Street, New Haven, CT

Climate Change: Global Issues, State Solutions
1:30pm, Woolsey Hall, 500 College Street, New Haven, CT

Introductory Remarks by Governor Rell.

Seating is on a first-come first-serve basis. Please plan to arrive at 1pm in order to secure a seat.

“This Conference on the conservation of natural resources is in effect a meeting of the representatives of all the people of the United States called to consider the weightiest problem now before the Nation.”

…so said President Theodore Roosevelt in May of 1908 in his opening address at the White House Conference of Governors which launched the modern conservation movement and planted the seed for the National Parks System. Roosevelt, an avid hunter and outdoorsman, showed remarkable foresight in engaging the “chief executive officers of the States” to preserve and protect the Nation’s natural resources.

Now, 100 years later, we face a new and critical challenge: global climate change. This time, however, leadership in the United States is coming from visionary state governors who are simultaneously acting to grow their economies, protect their people and ecosystems, and address this global challenge.

The Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies plans to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Roosevelt’s legacy with a Conference of Governors on Climate Change on April 17 and 18, 2008. This conference will celebrate the past, confront the present climate challenge, and envision a new future. In particular, this conference will recognize those governors who have demonstrated global leadership in addressing climate change and also provide these leaders with an opportunity to exchange ideas and chart a forward path on state, national, and international action. The event will include both an exclusive forum for private discussion among the governors as well as an open plenary session to give participants the opportunity to address the media, policymakers, students, and the world. Given the scope of this challenge, international governor-equivalents who have demonstrated visionary tactics on addressing climate change are also being invited to participate.

Why Yale?
As one of the country’s leading environmental schools, the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies offers an extraordinary platform for this extraordinary event. Founded in 1900 by Gifford Pinchot, Roosevelt’s close friend, trusted advisor, and later founder of the US Forest Service, Yale’s environment school has a long record of training leaders in conservation and pollution control. Pinchot, moreover, organized Roosevelt’s 1908 Conference of Governors, which inspired the modern conservation movement. Yale University’s storied history, political neutrality, analytical rigor, and tradition of innovative thinking promises the ideal setting for this exciting and groundbreaking event. Moreover, as an academic institution, Yale is uniquely position to offer a neutral, non-partisan forum for discussion.

Download the press release.

Read the transcript.

View the Governors' Declaration on Climate Change.