Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions
Executive Summary
The Nicholas Institute launched in September of 2005 with the intent of becoming a unique and distinct "honest broker" in the often divisive debates that characterize environmental policy. With the foundation of a generous gift pledged by Boston Scientific Chairman and Duke alumni Peter and Ginny Nicholas, the Institute's objective is to become an institution that, in Mr. Nicholas' words, "take[s] all that Duke does and do some social good." Or, as President Richard Brodhead envisioned it, "...the Nicholas Institute will excel at these gifts of community building, communities of understanding, communities of problem solving, and communities of possibility creation."
The Nicholas Institute's creation comes in a time of great need for such an institution. The environmental policy dialogue in the United States has become paralyzed and polarized, with most participants perceived to be aligned with one political party or the other. Given the centrality of the United States to many environmental problems, this paralysis has spilled over into the international sphere as well. Unfortunately, this phenomenon has prevented progress on some critical needs to shift environmentally unsustainable practices through public and private sector action. The entry of a credible third party institution into these discussions - one not perceived to carry its own political agenda - can help catalyze progress on environmental problems in ways that work toward a consensus or a common understanding of the problems and thereby reduce unproductive debate. Duke, with the Nicholas Institute as a central player, has the reputation and credibility to play the role of honest broker.
Duke can credibly claim to have as much environmental expertise on its campus as any other University. In the Nicholas School, Duke has one of the preeminent professional schools in environmental science and policy, and a core faculty enthusiastic about policy-relevant research that draws on interdisciplinary cooperation across campus. Complementary faculty expertise exists throughout campus - in the law school, Fuqua School of Business, Sanford Institute of Public Policy, medical school, Pratt School of Engineering, and Trinity College of Arts and Sciences- that can be harnessed to tackle the complex problems confronting developing and developed countries alike as they struggle to make sustainable use of natural resources for current and future generations. As a major research university, Duke also has the ability to access expertise outside of Duke's faculty in order to incorporate the greatest range of insights into Institute work.
In the short-term, the Institute will inject the knowledge and capabilities of Duke University into selected environmental policy debates. The nation is on the cusp of significant debates in areas such as oceans policy, climate policy, issues of national security and oil, and water - areas in which Duke has considerable expertise amongst its faculty. The Institute will bring Duke into those debates by partnering with existing players that will provide access and context for Duke's expertise. For example, the Institute: (1) will host a CEO-level dialogue on climate policy, hosted by the incoming chairman of the utility trade organization, (2) has collaborated with the Joint Oceans Commission Initiative, a joint campaign by the heads of the U.S. Commission on Oceans Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission, to assist in the assessment of ecosystem-based reform in federal oceans law; and (3) will convene experts in oil and national security issues to look at how internal structuring of energy business and politics in supplier nations affects U.S. energy security and the global energy market..
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