Norway Blinded Me With Science

So here I finally appear on this blog. I have been the “electronic slacker” of this trip……no blog entries, and I haven’t uploaded my pictures to Flickr yet (and I’m behind on Facebook uploads). By the time I check my e-mail and video chat with my boyfriend, I’m sick of being on the computer. Meh.

So…..we all have different talents. Kimberly and Jessica continue to impress our hosts with their musical skills on the violin, and Bergen plays the piano and speaks the language well (and has the same name as a city in Norway—how does anyone compete with that?). I’m feeling a distinct lack of elegance lately. So what do I bring to the table? Being a science geek! Asking lots of questions! Acting goofy (see earlier trampoline pic)! Yessssss.

This past week has been science-filled. Even our general outings can be turned into vocational visits for me. At the paper mill I learned that the Norwegian government had paid for 90% of an energy efficiency upgrade (I wonder if they have an interest in investing in some upgrades in a certain condo building in Chicago??? Hmmm.

We toured a laboratory and I learned that they anticipate a greater demand for different chemical analyses as the REACH chemical screening program is implemented in Europe. At a local university, a professor told us that oil production in Norway has peaked and not everyone may be “mentally prepared” for what the future brings given that oil profits are so central to the country’s economy.

The U.S. imports and consumes a lot of oil, mostly from Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia. We have a consumption problem, when it comes to oil as well as many other natural resources. Norway, on the other hand, is a huge producer of oil, but exports most of it. Norwegians are concerned about climate change and the environment and have a lower footprint than Americans do in terms of their way of life, but the country exports a not-so-environmentally-friendly commodity. Quite a dilemma. The future of Norway’s economy is uncertain. However, profits from oil are being invested in renewable energy and other “green” initiatives, and I have confidence that Norway will figure something out.

The U.S. has even more figuring out to do. I gave a presentation on climate change today at NILU (Norwegian Institute for Air Research). I didn’t know that I was going to give a presentation there until a few days ago, but no matter, I have improv skills. They even gave me an honorary PhD (don’t look at this, EPA ethics people…..I told them repeatedly that I was there unofficially!!):

I didn’t get a lot of questions (I expected more given the past performance of the U.S. regarding greenhouse gas emissions). I was told that this “shyness” is typically Norwegian. Apparently the culture isn’t wearing off on me completely—I’m going to go now, get off this darn computer, and dream up some more questions……