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Fifty-sixth Annual Conference
CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS: Norm Laurendeau, Purdue University
Larry Rasmussen, Union Theological Seminary

Energy and climate change typically are discussed in terms of their associated science, technology, economics and politics. Little attention, however, has been given to fundamental religious and ethical questions surrounding the upcoming transition to renewable energy.
We are entering a period of monumental transition as we encounter the inevitable shift from fossil to renewable fuels. Fossil fuels are being depleted while we pile up nuclear wastes, yet renewable alternatives such as solar, wind and biomass are not significantly in place. As for any technological transition of this magnitude, ultimate success will require good ethics and religion as well as good science and technology. Unfortunately, religious pronounce-ments to date have been largely dismissed owing to their feeble consideration of accompanying scientific and techno-logical realities. Nevertheless, religious perspectives have the advantage of highlighting ultimate values, regardless of economic and political pressures. The time has thus come to bring together scientists, engineers, ethicists and theologians to help effect a sustainable energy future.
The conference will engage scientific, technological, economic and political issues associated with energy con-servation and renewable energies in the context of global warming, sustainability and human purpose. The emphasis will be on (1) ethical and religious perspectives that can be used to guide future energy choices and (2) energy choices which, in turn, might challenge ethical and religious perspectives. Queries will include the following:

• How will human values be challenged by the coming energy transition?
• What are the ethical implications of heightened competition for energy resources?
• How might religious perspectives help foster renewable energy for transportation or electrical power?
• What strategies can be used to provide affordable energy for low-income citizens?
• Can cultural values, as espoused by religious communities of simplicity, help humanize energy markets?
• What role should religion play in reducing consumption and building sustainable global communities?
• How are religious communities dealing with alternative energy policies and engaging realistically with those political processes needed to plan our energy future?
• How might theological and religious understandings of energy contribute to a viable energy future?
• How can religious institutions become better prepared to deal with human suffering on a global scale should we not plan well for a peaceful energy transition?

A professionally designed and led program will be available for children and youth ages 3-17. A refereed poster session will be held for young scholars. Clergy and seminarians will meet regularly during the conference to shape conference materials for use in their ministries. CEUs upon request.
A list of confirmed speakers and more information on IRAS can be found at www.iras.org. Information on Star Island is available at www.starisland.org. Information on conference fees, room and board, and registration is at www.iras.org/Conference.html or contact Bonnie Falla, IRAS registrar, 810Ω N. Ninth St., Allentown, PA 18102; e-mail email hidden; JavaScript is required.

Norm Laurendeau served on the faculty of the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University from 1972 until his retirement in 2007 as the Ralph and Bettye Bailey Professor of Combustion. He is currently a research associate at Bowdoin College (Brunswick, ME) and a visiting scholar at the Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley, CA). Prof. Laurendeau taught at the graduate and undergraduate lev-els in the areas of thermodynamics, combustion and engineering eth-ics. He continues to conduct research with Purdue colleagues and graduate students in the combustion sciences, with particular empha-sis on laser-based diagnostics, pollutant formation and energy policy. Dr. Laurendeau has authored or coauthored over 175 refereed publi-cations and nearly 225 presentations and reports. His textbook, Sta-tistical Thermodynamics: Fundamentals and Applications, was pub-lished in 2005 by Cambridge University Press. Professor Laurendeau is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America and of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is also a fully professed lay member of the Dominican Order within the Catholic Church.

Larry Rasmussen served as Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York City from 1986 to 2004 and Professor of Christian Ethics at Wesley Theological Se-minary, Washington, DC, from 1972 to 1986. Post-retirement, he has served as St. John Distinguished Professor at the Lutheran Theologi-cal Seminary in Philadelphia and as Visiting Professor of Environ-mental Studies at St. Olaf College. A past president of the Society of Christian Ethics, he also served as co-moderator of Unit III (Justice, Peace, Creation) of the World Council of Churches and as a member of the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He recently gave a plenary address at the 2009 Nobel Science conference, Gusta-vus Adolphus College, and served as a panel respondent to other ad-dresses at the same conference. His books include Earth Community, Earth Ethics (Orbis Books and the World Council of Churches, 1996), winner of the 1997 Grawemeyer Award. Presently he directs the Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, decade project on Earth-honoring Faith: A Song of Songs.

Registration Fee: $150/person; $125/person for IRAS members whose registration is post-marked on or before April 10. If the conference is oversubscribed, IRAS members whose applications are post-marked on or before March 10 will be given preference.

Child care: The conference will offer a full child-care program. Details are available on the website.

Registrar: Bonnie Falla, 810½ N. Ninth St., Allentown, PA 18102, email hidden; JavaScript is required

Scholarship Opportunities: see conference website

Download Registration Form