Tribune talks energy
Evan Smith is the CEO and editor-in-chief of the Texas Tribune. Prior to August 2009, Smith was president and editor-in-chief of Texas Monthly | Hendrick Rosemond/The Daily Cougar
The Texas Tribune, in conjunction with the University of Houston, presented a one-day symposium discussing energy and the environment Friday in UH’s Wortham Theatre.
Many viewpoints on the issue were considered in hourly discussion panels and even included a complimentary lunch where UH faculty and members led roundtable discussions on energy topics.
Evan Smith, the CEO and editor-in-chief of the Texas Tribune, said it was fitting that UH host a symposium consisting of energy discussions.
“The University is obviously important in the constellation of higher-ed institutions so it’s no surprise that we’ve come here as opposed to somewhere else … There’s a big energy presence on the campus and so I think there was a lot that made sense in it.” Smith said. “But President (Renu) Khator actually came to an event that we did back in September in Austin and said, ‘This is the kind of conversation that should take place on our campus. We think that our students and our community members would love it, and so if you’re going to do something like this you have to at least think about doing it here.’”
Smith and Khator spoke about the state of the University and its being one of the strongest advocates of protecting the environment.
“I think we’ve engaged a whole lot of people who otherwise wouldn’t be thinking about these issues,” Smith said. “The fact is everybody in the community here, everybody outside of the community all over Texas needs to be thinking about the economic and environmental impacts of the use of natural gas.”
Smith said the goal was to fulfill the need for discussing energy topics within the greater community.
“We need to be thinking about what the policies of the state should be with regard to energy and I think that having this conversation gives people an opportunity to think about those things,” Smith said.
The Texas Tribune is an non-profit, online publication that focuses primarily on Texas government and policy.
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