Former Sen. Timothy Wirth to Speak at Colorado State’s Natural Resources Leadership Lecture Series April 7

Former Sen. Timothy Wirth will speak at Colorado State University as part of the College of Natural Resources’ Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series in Natural Resources and the Environment April 7.

Wirth will present "Energy and the Lords of Yesteryear." The event will take place at 4 p.m. in Ammons Hall on the Colorado State campus. His talk will focus on energy being the linchpin of the global economy but that three major issues require immediate attention: the world’s dependence on oil, the threat of global warming and the lack of access by the world’s poor to the modern energy services they need to get ahead economically. Wirth believes these are large challenges but can be opportunities as well. He’ll discuss how the transition to clean energy technologies of the 21st century can be the next great driver of economic growth and job creation.

Wirth began his political career as a White House Fellow under President Lyndon Johnson and served as deputy assistant secretary for education in the Nixon Administration. He also served as congressman from 1975 to 1987, representing Colorado’s Second District and concentrating his efforts in the areas of communications technology and budget policy. In 1987, Wirth was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he focused on environmental issues, especially global climate change and population stabilization.

Wirth served as president of the United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund, founded in 1998 through a major financial commitment from R.E. Turner to support and strengthen the work of the United Nations. Since the UN Foundation’s inception, Wirth has organized and led the formulation of the foundation’s mission and program priorities, which include the environment, women and population, children’s health, peace, security and human rights. The foundation also engages in extensive public advocacy, resource mobilization and institutional strengthening efforts on behalf of the UN.

The event is sponsored by Colorado State’s College of Natural Resources, the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory and the Laurence Riordan Leadership Program.  

For more information about the College of Natural Resources Distinguished Speaker event, contact Lily Hoffman at lily@nrel.colostate.edu or (970) 491-0252.

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