June 10 - 16, 2012  |  Apply Now  |   Download Full Program Syllabus 

We currently use 30 billion barrels of oil each year to fill the many needs that this finite natural resource fills. Oil consumption has nearly doubled since the 1970s, and is expected to increase by nearly 50% by 2030. This would lead to a rise of global energy-related CO2 emissions from nearly 30 to over to 40 billion tons in the next 20 years. As the future of oil grows increasingly uncertain while the demand for energy grows, some believe that ethanol, “clean coal” and natural gas extraction through hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is the answer. Others believe that renewable energy in the form of wind and solar will provide the solution. 

Daily Schedule
SUNDAY: Defining "Energy"
Reading: "Energy: What Is It?" Energy Quest Room. California Energy Commission, 2011.

MONDAY: Natural Gas
Field Work: 

• Meet Friends of Natural Gas representative Donald Siegel, professor of Earth Science at Syracuse University, will discuss natural gas drilling in the Catskills, the risks of which he believes have been exaggerated.    
  

TUESDAY: Dangers of Fossil Fuels
Reading: Hoffert, Martin I. "Farewell to Fossil Fuel?" Science 329.5997 (2010): 1292-294.
Kerr, Richard A. "Peak Oil Production May Already Be Here." Science 331.6024 (2011).
Video: Collapse. Dir. Chris Smith. Perf. Michael Ruppert. Bluemark Productions, 2009.
Field Work:

• Work at Catskill Mountainkeeper, a non-profit organization whose mission is to protects the ecological integrity of the Catskill Mountain range and which is currently working to thwart hydrofracking efforts in NY State. Director Wes Gillingham will discuss the problems with hydrofracking and the need to promote sustainable economic growth while protecting natural resources essential to healthy communities. 
  

WEDNESDAY: Hydraulic Fracturing / Fracking
Field Work:

• Travel to Dimock, PA with Catskill Mountainkeeper director Wes Gillingham to visit fracking wells, see first-hand the infrastructure that fracking requires, and meet homeowners who have leased their properties to Haliburton for the purposes of hydrofracking.
  

THURSDAY: Renewable Energy Advocacy and Infrastructure
Field Work:

• Work with Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy, an an all volunteer grassroots organization working to prohibit fracking through educating the public, lobbying policymaker, and direct actions. 
  
• Work on Apple Pond Farm, which is both a running farm and alternative energy education center. Tour facilities, which include a wind mill, solar panels, and grass-pellet burning stove.
  

FRIDAY: Renewable Energy Funding
Field Work: 

• Meet and work with Dick Riesling, executive director of Sullivan Alliance for Sustainable Development, an energy conservation consulting firm which has helped procure hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money for funding alternative energy infrastructure projects.
  

SATURDAY: Workshop & Recommendations