The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences proudly welcome Rep. Sean Casten (IL-6) as the next guest in their Rebuilding Democracy Lecture Series at 7 p.m. CST Oct. 18.
Rep. Sean Casten
The hour-long event, conducted on Zoom, will feature Rep. Casten alongside NIU faculty conducting research in the area of climate change and climate policy. Professors Walker Ashley, Reed Scherer and Melissa Lenczewski will join Dean Robert Brinkmann in the conversation. A moderated question and answer session will follow.
The program is free and open to the public, but advanced registration is required. Go to http://go.niu.edu/Rebuilding-Democracy-RSVP to request a link to the event prior to Oct. 18. Event links will be sent out from the clas-communication@niu.edu mailbox one day prior to the event.
As a scientist, clean energy entrepreneur and CEO, and now as a Member of Congress representing the western Chicago suburbs, Rep. Casten has dedicated his life to fighting climate change. He draws upon his previous private sector experience in Congress to craft market-based solutions to reduce emissions while creating jobs and spurring economic growth.
Casten serves on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and is the vice chair of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets. He also serves as co-chair on the New Democrat Coalition Climate Change Task Force.
He worked as a clean energy consultant and manager at Arthur D. Little then served as the president and CEO of Turbosteam Corporation, which focused on utilizing energy recycling technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by generating heat and power from previously wasted energy. In 2006, he co-founded Recycled Energy Development (RED), which focused on recycling wasted energy and converting energy facilities to cleaner, economic uses.
Casten was the founding chairman of the Northeast CHP Initiative, a nonprofit advocacy organization with a mission to advance policies that favor energy efficiency in the Northeast United States.
The Rebuilding Democracy Lecture Series showcases how the liberal arts and sciences is at the center of a healthy democracy. The Series addresses various aspects of building a stronger democracy and bring together a fractured society – everything from restoring civility, our legislative and judicial branches, rebuilding our diplomatic and intelligence offices, taking care of our military personnel, media as well as topical issues such as education, healthcare, public health, budget and finance, sustainability/environmental issues and social justice/human rights.
