Tonight kicks off Furman’s "Year of the Environment" This year’s Riley Institute is entitled "The Environment: Critical Issues of the 21st Century," and the keynote address was given by the Honorable John Glenn, former astronaut and senator.
The laws of nature do not change. Therefore, the laws of Man, or the actions of Man must change.
In his talk, Glenn advocated basic research for sustainable energy resources. One are he said that we are sorely lacking was research into large-scale electrical energy storage – huge batteries, if you will.
We have learned how to take every force of nature and convert it to energy. We now send that energy into the grid to relieve overworked power plants. We don’t have a method of storing electricity on a large scale.
Glenn stated that we need a "Manhatten Project" to focus on solutions to the energy problem.
After his talk, there were questions from the floor. Some of the questions were predictible, including one little Republican dweeb who wanted to say that global warming was just a cycle – citing some chart he probably got from Fox News. Glenn voiced his dismay that the original purpose of the International Space Station had been diverted from its mission and was now underfunded.
Great plans without resources are fantasies.
All-in-all it was a great evening. Even though it might not have been the greatest of speeches, it was still fascinating to be in the presence of such greatness. Glenn has achieved so much in his lifetime.