Houghton College Professor Selected to Train with Al Gore and the Climate Project

HOUGHTON, N.Y. — Aaron Routhe, assistant professor of sociology at Houghton College, was selected as one of the 150 exceptional faith leaders to receive training from former Vice President Al Gore at The Climate Project’s (TCP) first Faith Community Training Session this October in Nashville, Tenn.    

“I appreciate the invitation to participate in this unique opportunity to meet and learn from others working to facilitate conversations about climate change in our faith communities,” said Routhe. TCP training will prepare Routhe to make presentations and organize community activities to educate others about complex issues surrounding global climate change.  

“I plan on attending as both a participant and an observer based on my personal interest in helping Christians better understand the relevance of the Bible for how we think about God's creation and my ongoing research on how Evangelicals form their views about climate change. My hope is that this experience better equips me for helping people think about and discuss together the many complex issues related to global climate change and our personal responsibilities in a globalized world,” said Routhe.  

TCP began operations in June 2006 with the mission of increasing public awareness of the climate crisis at a grassroots level in the United States and abroad. By April 2007, a diverse group of 1,000 volunteers from throughout the U.S. had been trained by Gore himself to present a version of the slideshow featured in the Academy Award-winning film “An Inconvenient Truth.”  

As of August 2008, they had delivered more than 15,000 presentations and reached a combined audience of well more than a million people. In addition, TCP initiatives have resulted in the training of hundreds of equally committed individuals in Australia, Canada, India, Spain, and the UK. Worldwide TCP's 2,300 presenters have reached an audience of at least 4 million people.