A "Transforming Energy" Lecture by Herschel Specter
April 1, 2011

Abstract

There are two major energy-related threats to the environment: 1) the release of greenhouse gases that can lead to climate change and 2) insufficient energy that has the potential to lead to economic collapse and even global warfare.  Our lack of a national energy policy has led to a dire situation with both threats worsening.  We are nearing a repeat of 2008, when prices rose to $147/barrel and precipitated a deep global recession.  Meanwhile, atmospheric CO2 concentrations continue to rise to unacceptable levels.  We must address these threats, but not one at the expense of the other.  The sequence of actions which we choose is crucial. If we fall into back-to-back deep recessions, it is unlikely that we will have the means to attain energy independence at present standards of living or to prevent climate change. Mr. Specter will share his ongoing analyses that shows first emphasis should be placed on reducing our oil consumption to immunize the nation from the economic stress of future world oil shortages and considerably abate greenhouse gas emissions. To complete this effort and lower greenhouse gas levels further, additional steps must eventually be taken to establish a sustainable energy future.

Biography

Herschel Specter holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and an M.S. degree from MIT in Nuclear Engineering. He did further graduate studies at the Univ. of Maryland, but chose to serve as President of Big Brothers in the Greater Washington area instead of completing his dissertation.  His professional career has centered around nuclear power plant safety.  He served as a federal regulator at the Atomic Energy Commission, and for five years conducted a nuclear safety standards program at the International Atomic Energy Agency.  He has authored numerous technical papers on emergency planning, probabilistic risk assessment, source term technology, containment analysis, and risk-based regulation.  He has presented testimony at the National Academy of Sciences on the safety of spent fuel pools at nuclear power plants.   Recently, he became a Topic Director in a large non-partisan effort called Our Energy Policy Foundation whose purpose is to provide scientific advice to our national political leaders and other concerned groups on energy matters.   For his work with youth, he was selected as “Big Brother of the Year” for the United States and Canada.