April 13, 1998

State legislator addresses environmental policy seminar at UCSC

Fred Keeley discussed California's coast at a recent environmental studies seminar.

By Francine Tyler

The state of the California coast and the Pacific Ocean was the subject of a recent lunchtime seminar led by state assemblymember Fred Keeley (D-27th District).

Approximately 20 people attended Keeley's talk on April 6. The talk was part of the Environmental Policy Seminar Series, a weekly brown-bag luncheon series sponsored by the Environmental Studies Department.

During his talk, Keeley discussed two bills he has introduced in the state legislature: AB 1241, a proposal for reforming California's marine life and fishery management, and AB 1000, a coastal bond act that would provide money for acquiring coastal land, repairing and maintaining harbors and piers, and addressing coastal-pollution problems.

The weekly seminars take place each Monday from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in Natural Sciences 2, Room 221. During the lunchtime meetings, scholars and policy leaders present their work, field questions, and engage in discussion of environmental issues with those in attendance.

The series was established last quarter by three environmental studies faculty who wanted to create "a place where people could bring up environmental policy issues," said Assistant Professor Brent Haddad.

"We want to raise the quality and the quantity of environmental policy discussion on campus and really make an exciting place for discussion of environmental issues," he said. "We tried to create a seminar series that challenges our students to give thoughtful presentations and defend their work."

The next seminar takes place Monday, April 13, and will feature UCSC doctoral candidate Paul Steinberg. For more information, call Brent Haddad at (408) 459-4149.

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