New Shell Sustainability Center annual report explains changes

New Shell Sustainability Center annual report explains changes

BY FRANZ BROTZEN
Rice News Staff

The Shell Center for Sustainability has released its annual report, detailing its new management structure.

The new academic director, Peter Hartley, professor of economics and the George and Cynthia Mitchell Family Chair in Sustainable Development, explained the reorganization of the center’s administrative structure. The center now reports to the dean of Social Sciences, Lyn Ragsdale. A Shell Oil Company research scientist will join two permanent representatives from the public affairs office at Shell North America on the committee. Members of Rice’s School of Natural Sciences, the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management and the School of Architecture will also be represented on the committee. The committee is composed of members representing Political Science, the Center on Race, Religion and Urban Life (CORRUL), Economics and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

Hartley also described his efforts to determine the center’s academic direction. He argued development means improved living standards that extend beyond economic growth to “valued items” like environmental amenities, freedom from coercion, the rule of law and the quality of social interactions. He underscored the significance of science and engineering in providing the technical innovations that will allow for such development to continue indefinitely.

In order to ensure sustainable development, Hartley said the center would also need to promote sound energy and environmental policies. Therefore, the center will seek new ties with the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy and the Energy and Environmental Systems Institute, the report stated.

To read the report in its entirety, go to http://shellcenter.rice.edu/calendar.cfm.