of a speech by conservative Ann Coulter last semester, the Ivy League institution is set to host a debate on climate change next week without much pushback at all.
The Steamboat Institute, a conservative Colorado-based think tank, will debut its 2023 Campus Liberty Tour at Cornell with a debate March 15 on whether humans must vastly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help solve climate change.
Brookes said having a former Obama official argue against the need for radical climate change policies teaches college students not to “pigeonhole people.” She said hundreds of students are expected to attend the debate and then engage in their own discussions on the topic. Other campuses are expected to have livestream watch parties so students nationwide can take part as well, she said.
While in general most professors nationwide often say the science is settled when it comes to climate change, at least two Cornell professors toldCornell Law Professor William Jacobson said he has not heard of any pushback. Cornell biology Professor Randy Wayne, who helped put together the debate, also told“I did get a comment that someone wondered about the Steamboat Institute because he worried about the word ‘liberty’ … in ‘liberty tour,’” Wayne said.