Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski will address how scientific knowledge can be put to use in developing sound environmental policy - and how West Coast states are taking the national lead on global warming and coastal protection - in the inaugural lecture of the UCSD Science Studies Program Lecture Series in Science and Society on March 15 in the Robinson Auditorium at the University of California, San Diego.

The talk begins at 12:30 p.m., with Q&A to follow. Admission is free. Robinson Auditorium is in the Robinson Complex of UCSD's Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. Phone for information: (858) 534-0491.

Kulongoski has been at the forefront of state environmental initiatives since the 1980s, when as a member of the Oregon State Senate he championed the first state law to ban the use of chemicals that were creating the ozone hole. Since becoming governor in 2003, Kulongoski has established himself as a national leader on sustainability, global warming and energy independence.

In 2003, Kulongoski issued an executive order directing state agencies to incorporate sustainability into their decision-making and strategic planning. In 2005, he issued a second executive order creating the nation's only state Sustainability Board and charged the group to work with state and local governments and the private sector to further sustainability policies.

Also in 2003, Kulongoski led the formation of a three-state regional dialogue on combating global warming with his gubernatorial counterparts in Washington and California. The partnership led to regional action on adopting clean tailpipe standards and state goals for greenhouse gas reductions. Recently, in February of 2007, Kulongoski announced the expansion of the dialogue to include Arizona and New Mexico. The five states will work together to set a regional emission reduction target and develop a design for a regional market-based program or programs to achieve those targets, such as a cap and trade regime.

Kulongoski developed Oregon's first Renewable Energy Action Plan, in 2004, to aggressively move the state to the national lead on developing renewable resources such as wind, solar, wave and biomass energy. The plan led to legislation in 2005 to expand tax credits for the installation of renewable energy and a major clean energy agenda for the 2007 session.

The lecture is presented by the UCSD Science Studies Program, an interdisciplinary graduate program in history, philosophy, sociology and communication of science.

For more about Kulongoski: http://www.governor.state.or.us/

For more about the UCSD Science Studies Program: http://sciencestudies.ucsd.edu/