Lois Quam touts liberal arts versatility as key to “New Green Economy”

If you’ve ever wondered what color the job market might look like when you graduate from CC, Lois Quam has an answer for you: green.

The mother of CC student Ben Quam, and a leader of the emerging New Green Economy movement and health care reform gave a talk entitled “The Promise of the New Green Economy” as part of the H. Chase Stone Memorial Lecture series on Monday, March 1.

Quam began her career in health care reform, but soon realized that there was an even bigger problem that needed to be solved. 

I began to see another issue looming on the horizon, one with the potential to negatively impact the health of every man, woman and child on the planet if left unaddressed. That issue was, of course, climate change, Quam said. The tons of carbon we pump into the atmosphere negatively impact the quality of the air we breathe, leading to a rise in respiratory illnesses.  Rising water levels lead to the spread of waterborne illnesses and disease.

Based on these convictions, as well as economic benefits and concerns of national security, Quam is advocating for a rehaul of the current economy. She explained that broad and sweeping changes are coming to our economy, as drastic as the industrial revolution.

“I realized that unless we addressed climate change soon, nothing else might matter,” she said. “It will effect every business and every industry.”

However, it may not be America that leads that change. 

“I’ve often been asked whether America will be the country to lead that transition,” Quam said. “But now, after two wars, the Great Recession and our leaders in Washington unable to reach consensus on the way forward, the answer to that question is not as clear.” 

Quam believes that our fiercest competitor for leadership of the new green economy could come from the Far East.

“The West may one day trade its dependency on oil from the middle east to dependency on solar panels and green energy from China,” she said.

She said that it is in part institutions like CC and other liberal arts colleges that may help give America the edge over competitors in this new and vastly different economic scene. Quam applauded the liberal arts education, and particularly the block plan, in giving students the key ability of versatility. 

“Take things from different places and combine them,” she said. “Above all, don’t be afraid to change.”